Avengers : Babysitter's Club
by Jade1990
Summary: After the events in New York, Tony Stark is determined to defend the earth at all costs and is hoping to soon see the world protected by his new project - Ultron. Before he can complete it, however, Loki returns to unleash havoc on Tony's teammates. With the Avengers not quite their usual heroic selves, can Tony bring everyone together to defeat the God of Mischief?
1. Chapter 1

For the purpose of this story everything up to (and including) Captain America: Winter Soldier has happened, apart from Thor: Dark World.

Some main points before we start:

1\. This is written in place of Age of Ultron and focuses mainly on the original 6 Avengers (with a healthy dose of Pepper), although there will be a few other familiar faces popping up.

2\. Natasha Romanoff deserves the world.

3\. Tony x Pepper is the only explicitly established couple, there is a small hint of Clint's family but you can choose to ignore that as the reference is vague.

4\. Everyone needs a hug.

5\. I do not own Marvel/MCU - I just love them all.

6\. Some minor language.

* * *

The tower was quiet at this time of night; everyone gone home, or to bed. The tech lab, however, was fully alive with robots whizzing about the room, machines whirring, and holograms being restructured and discarded.

Tony Stark was at the centre of all the activity; his black hair mussed from all the times he had distractedly ran his hands through it in frustration.

Tony was restless.

It was nothing new to find him lost in his work long after his body had started crying out for sleep. Trouble was he could never switch off his brain; there was always a new design or modification or regret pecking at him until he had to get up and start tinkering.

Currently he was knee deep in his new project – designing a program that could enable him to put a suit of armour around the whole world. The idea of this next level protection had been plaguing him since New York.

_Aliens._

It had been unexpected, almost catastrophic when those armoured monsters had broken through the atmosphere and rained chaos upon the city, until their costumed band of misfits had come and saved the day. Despite their victory, however, Tony was conscious that one day the Avengers would not be there to save the world, or maybe they would be there but not enough to defeat whatever was thrown their way.

Tony couldn't sit around waiting for that to happen. So, he worked.

He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't hear the lab door admitting someone else to his safe- haven.

"Thought I might find you here".

Tony looked up from the monitor to find Captain Steve Rogers hovering uncertainly near a bank of gadgets that Tony had never gotten around to finishing.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, Grandpa?" The good captain ignored the jibe.

"I didn't mean to intrude. Couldn't sleep and Jarvis mentioned that you were still pottering about down here –"

"Traitor", Tony huffed under his breath.

"-and I thought you might like some company".

Tony could see instantly that Rogers was regretting his attempt at camaraderie. Between the new-fangled tech whirring around his head and the less than warm welcome from his teammate he was clearly wishing he'd hit the gym instead.

Tony sighed and sat back in his chair. Although the pair hadn't got off to a good start, they had been trying to mend their differences since the battle and watching the captain squirm like a lost puppy wasn't as fun for the genius as it once might have been.

"I'm about finished here anyway – coffee?"

Steve's face brightened a little and he stepped quickly to the lab door, holding it open as Tony ambled through it heading for the elevator.

After the battle of New York, Tony had blocked off the upper floors of Stark Tower and made them into a safe space for the Avengers to lick their wounds, or even live, if they wanted to.

Tony had kept the penthouse suite for himself and Pepper. _I am the one paying the bills. _

The floor below was reserved for Thor, God of Thunder. Thor was usually off-planet so it was rare that the floor was utilised, meaning Tony and Pepper were mostly free to enjoy the peace and quiet.

The floor below him had originally been meant for a certain master assassin, however she'd complained that Thor's stomping would keep her awake, so she'd made Barton switch with her ("he's deaf anyway, it'll make no difference to him").

Barton was another one who was frequently absent. The archer was suspiciously tight-lipped about where he disappeared to and none of Stark's needling had convinced him to spill his secrets – _classified, my ass._

Romanoff was a surprisingly regular housemate. Tony had thought that she'd be the hardest to convince about the arrangement, but she'd shown up a few weeks after the renovations were complete and had only left for missions and occasionally on one of Barton's secret trips. Stark had wondered many times about the nature of their relationship but, apparently, that was classified too.

Steve's floor was next, and it had been empty for some time before the captain was forced to accept Tony's hospitality after the fall of Shield. Steve had been reluctant to give up his privacy and free time but, after realising his own apartment was compromised, he had decided to bite the bullet. He had turned up after his fruitless search for his old pal Bucky Barnes and he had been staying at the tower exclusively ever since.

Banner was on the last floor above the common area. Bruce had been another permanent resident since Tony had first made the suggestion and the pair had grown closer bonding over their shared love of science and debunking conspiracy theories.

As well as the living quarters and the lab, the tower also boasted a fully equipped gym (suitable for humans and gods), a hospital wing (mostly used by Strike Team Delta), a home cinema room, an Olympic style swimming pool, a private spa, a shooting range and the common area comprising of a large kitchen and living room. Slowly, as they became more accustomed to one another, this had become the most visited floor in the tower, and it was here that Steve and Tony exited the elevator.

They'd made the short trip in silence and Tony took the time to take in the captain's appearance; grey jogging bottoms and an honest-to-goodness Black Widow t-shirt.

"Did you lose a bet to Red?" Tony asked as they reached the kitchen.

"Huh?" Steve had clearly been in a world of his own – Tony had never seen him less alert. He gestured to the form-fitting black t-shirt with the red hourglass emblazoned on it. Steve laughed out loud when he realised what Tony was referring to.

"Not exactly," he answered, whilst self-consciously scratching the back of his head. "She started stealing my hoodies and t-shirts when we were working together on missions. I complained that my wardrobe was practically empty as a result, so she bought be some new clothes - mostly Avenger-themed. I also have Hulk underpants, but I'm not ready to wear those just yet".

"Wait," Tony stopped halfway through pouring the coffee, "she stole your underpants?"

Steve blushed to the tips of is ears.

"Uh…just the once".

Tony filed that away for a later date, his mind was too foggy with lack of sleep to come up with a suitably witty remark and, besides, it would be more fun to taunt the super soldier if they had an audience present.

The pair settled on the blue couch that took up half of the floor. Tony sighed in relief as he sank back into the soft cushions, unaware until then how tense his body must have been all night.

"Wanna talk about it?" Steve asked.

"Just one of those days, Cap. Just one of those days".

Steve didn't push, for which Tony was grateful. He wasn't sure he could explain even if he wanted to. He always made a good job of covering his fears and insecurities with sarcasm and showmanship; only Pepper, and occasionally Bruce, got to experience the delights of his tormented psyche. He was too tired today to try to bullshit his way out of this one though so he merely rested his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes as Steve started telling him about the last time he'd visited his buddy Sam at one of his VA meetings...

Tony jerked awake suddenly.

He was flat on his back, laid out on the couch with a blanket over him. Cap was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't sure what had awoken him until a flash of lightning lit up the common room. A heavy crack of thunder followed almost immediately afterwards.

The storm was close.

Very close.

And then it was over.

Tony had 0.3 seconds to realise what that meant before a large fist banged on the window, making his heart jump in his throat. Thor Odinson stood on the balcony, blonde hair blowing in the wind, red cape billowing behind him and Mjolnir in-hand. _How is this my life now?_

Tony stood to let him in, his back clicking ominously in three places. And then cracking all the way down his spine as the Asgardian pulled him in to a bone-crushing hug.

"Man of Iron!" Thor boomed. "It has been too long!"

"It's been exactly four days," Tony wheezed against the god's armoured chest, "and you may want to speak a little louder for my hard-of-hearing friends in Minnesota".

"I should like to meet these friends someday. Maybe they could attend your next party!"

Tony sighed in relief as Thor finally released him.

"So, what brings you here at this time of night, big guy? Booty call gone south and need a place to crash?"

"Booty…call? Sorry, I have told you many times, metal man, that I do not possess a telephone".

Tony could feel a headache building behind his eyes. He loved Thor, really he did, and he respected the guy wildly, but very occasionally his lack of understanding of basic human concepts made Tony need a long lie down in a very dark room. _Maybe he'd feel the same way about me if I ever visited Asgard._

"Seriously buddy, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but you were meant to be off-planet for another two weeks".

"Ah, yes, well…something has come up that may require all of our attentions".

Tony felt his heart stutter in his chest.

"More aliens? What are we dealing with? How long do we have?"

Thor, for once, looked somewhat abashed.

"Um…"

"Thor", Tony warned, "tell me. Now".

"Loki…may have…escaped".

"WHAT?!" Tony was livid. "The only reason that that bastard was allowed to go with you was because you said that you had tech that was light years ahead of ours that could imprison him indefinitely!"

"That was not a lie," Thor insisted earnestly (almost proudly).

"So then how in the hell did this happen?! You have three seconds to explain. Go."

Tony crossed his arms, teeth grinding together, waiting for the god to dig himself deeper in to a hole.

"Well…at the time of his most unfortunate escape…he maybe, very possibly, had been released from his cage to assist with some minor trouble we were having with another tribe".

Tony could feel his blood pressure climbing. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but the rage he felt at the blatant stupidity of the Asgardians was hard to quell. Thor remained uncharacteristically cowed and quiet, for which Tony was grateful; another word out of the blonde's mouth and Tony may have been tempted to punch him in his chiselled face -_and break my hand in the process._

"Jarvis," Tony's voice shook with the effort of keeping his anger under control.

"Yes, Mr Stark?" answered a polite, disembodied, British voice.

"Wake the others; I want them here. Now."

"Right away, Mr Stark".

Tony could see Thor out of the corner of his eye inching his way towards the kitchen area.

"Just help yourself, Thor," he sighed, resignedly.

The relief was clear on Thor's face as he raced to the breakfast cupboard.

"I wouldn't normally wish to impose" – _you totally would _– "but amidst all the panic I'm afraid I only managed the first three courses of dinner".

Tony rolled his eyes behind the Asgardian's back as Thor pulled out a full box of poptarts, popping four into the toaster and biting in to the other two cold. Tony grimaced at the sight whilst sending a silent prayer of thanks that their godly friend had finally mastered the toaster settings; Pepper would kill him if yet another kitchen appliance lost a battle with Mjolnir.

The other Avengers arrived en-masse – Steve, leading the way, was still sporting his Black Widow fan-gear. Bruce followed behind him looking dazed in his tartan pyjama bottoms and a baggy grey t-shirt that had seen better days. The two assassins entered in full uniform, strapping guns and knives to various limbs.

"Who're we fighting?" Clint looked almost giddy at the prospect of a surprise fight in the middle of the night.

"Oh, nothing to worry about, guys", Tony feigned nonchalance whilst his insides were still twisting and churning uncomfortably, "only our Nordic buddy, here, has lost his little brother and would like us to put some pictures out on milk cartons and lamp posts to help find him".

Tony watched as each of his comrades reacted to the news, their faces showing the emotions that had hit him earlier. Apart from Natasha, who looked exactly as angry as when she'd walked in. _Man, she really doesn't like people interrupting her sleep._

Thor sheepishly ceased his gorging when he realised that all his colleagues were glaring at him.

"Care to explain?" Tony was impressed with how calm Rogers sounded, although he noticed that the captain's jaw had developed a most telling twitch.

"Well ", Thor began, all false bravado that may have been charming on any other occasion. "As I was telling my good friend here –" Tony felt his eyes roll heavenward once again "- Loki disappeared during a very short excursion and, unfortunately, he has not yet been found. Although I can assure you that I have all of my most talented scouts and warriors looking for him".

All of the Avengers starting barraging Thor with questions and insults leaving the god looking decidedly bewildered. Tony almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost.

"Enough!"

Six heads whipped around to the door where Virginia 'Pepper' Potts stood with her arms folded, and her face sporting an expression that usually resulted in Tony grovelling for a few days. Thankfully, for him, her ire was not reserved solely for the genius on this occasion.

"Does someone want to tell me that in the hell is going on here?"

The group all turned to look at Tony, clearly volunteering him for the task.

"Cowards", he threw at them, before bringing Pepper up to speed.

As Tony outlined the facts to Pepper, he became aware that the others had split in to two groups: Steve, Bruce and Clint were clustered together, strategising, if their intense, whispered voices were anything to go by. Romanoff, on the other hand, had Thor cornered by the fridge. Tony allowed himself a small smirk imagining all the ways the assassin could be threatening Thor's manhood. He almost choked, therefore, when he witnessed the former Shield agent lay a gentle hand on Thor's ridiculously large bicep, and Thor's answering smile of gratitude. Clearly, he would need to have a chat with Agent Romanoff about rewarding bad behaviour. _Or maybe I'll get Pepper to do it. _


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to anyone who has chosen to read/review/follow this story; it's very much appreciated :)

I hope you all enjoy

* * *

It had been three long, stressful days since Thor had broken his unwelcome news to the rest of the Avengers. The team had been on high alert, watching for any sign that the God of Mischief had returned to Earth, whilst Thor re-joined his own countrymen scouring the realms for his lost brother.

On the third evening, Jarvis alerted Tony, who had one again buried himself in his lab, to the return of Thor. Tony issued a weary sigh and heaved himself out of his chair. He decided to take the stairs up to the common floor, where he knew the others were congregating, to buy himself a few more moments of peace.

The noise reached him before he even made it to the sitting area. He entered the room and was met with a volley of shouts and swearing. He used their distractedness to take in his colleagues one by one.

Bruce was sat on the armchair furthest from the door, head in hands, pulling on his dark hair and making it stand on end. Tony guessed he was trying hard to not turn in to a giant, green rage-monster.

Thor and Clint were engaged in a heated argument that looked moments away from turning physical. After throwing childish insults back and forth, their voices rising with each taunt, Clint finally removed his hearing aids and turned his back on the God of Thunder. Thor looked significantly outraged and made to go after the archer until Steve stepped between them, raising his hands placatingly. Tony could clearly see that Steve's shoulders were set with a deep tension, even from across the room. He figured the super soldier had gotten as much sleep as himself in the last few days.

"Welcome to the party," a wry voice said from his left. Tony turned to find Natasha perched on the breakfast bar, one leg bent under her, calmly working her way through a bag of M & M's. She offered the pack to Tony and he took a handful of the colourful candy before taking up position next to her.

"Good news then?" he asked, sardonically.

"Oh, you know", she replied, "just that Loki has finally decided to grace us with his presence".

Tony suddenly found it difficult to swallow. Although they had been expecting this outcome, a small part of him had harboured a secret hope that Thor would find his brother long before he touched down on Earth. Or even that he would find another planet to terrorise instead.

"When?" is all he managed to croak out.

"Last night." Tony felt the redhead shift next to him. He glanced at her stoic face and saw a brief flash of something in her eyes; _Fear? Excitement? Anger? _Before they returned to their usual keen, observant state.

"Why are we only just finding out about this?"

Natasha sighed and hopped gracefully off the counter.

"Thor thought, somewhat misguidedly you might say, that he could find Loki himself and convince him to return home."

"And all this shouting is everyone congratulating him on a job well done, I suppose".

Natasha smirked at Tony and handed him her half-eaten bag of M & M's.

"Come find me when they're finished with the dramatics and are ready to figure out a plan of action".

"And where, pray tell, will you be, exactly?" he asked her retreating form.

"I have a hankering to shoot something," she threw back over her shoulder.

"Keep it on the range this time, Red!" Tony called after her, only to receive a one-finger salute in reply.

Tony turned resignedly back to the rest of the Avengers who had now all retreated into their own corners of the room, eying one another warily. He inwardly cursed himself that his project was not yet fully functional – _this is exactly why we need it. _

Tony took a deep, steadying breath before approaching his teammates.

"So, fellas," he started, "it seems we have stumbled into a shit-show. Any ideas?"

He plopped himself down on to the couch, still holding Nat's bag of candy, and looked around at the other men, waiting for one of them to speak. _I mean, why is it always me that has to be the man with the plan? Let them use their own brains for once. _

"We need to find him before he does any damage," stated Thor, with the confidence of one whose subjects hang off his every word.

"No shit, Sherlock".

Thor gave him a quizzical look.

"That is not my name, Stark, as you well know."

Tony ignored him and turned to the others.

"Anyone else have any bright ideas?"

"We can't do anything until we know where he is," Banner said, quietly, rubbing his tired eyes until they appeared red and sore. "The Asgardians are working on pinpointing his exact location but, until we have that, I suggest we all get some rest".

"That doctors' orders?" Tony took in Bruce's unkempt hair and the heavy bags under his eyes. Bruce offered him a wry smile.

"I think we are all going to need at least our B game before we face him, don't you? I, for one, don't want to be caught off guard again."

With that, Bruce rose from his seat and exited the room without a backwards glance. A quick look about the room told Tony that Barton had also fled without him noticing. Tony felt an avalanche of guilt wash over him, and a glance at his remaining comrades told him that they felt the same. Amidst all the commotion of the last few days, he realised that they had failed to check up on the two people for whom Loki's return would cause the biggest upset.

Both Bruce and Clint had been forced to turn against their colleagues and friends the last time they had encountered the God of Mischief. Clint, in particular, had struggled greatly with the aftermath of what he had done under Loki's mind control. Tony knew first-hand how heavy the burden of guilt could be and he felt ashamed that he had not thought to offer more support to the pair recently.

"I think Bruce is right," Steve finally broke the heavy silence that had descended on the small group. "We should get some sleep. We need to be ready for whatever he's going to throw at us".

Tony nodded at him, more than willing to escape to his room and sink into Pepper's welcoming arms, if only for a few short hours.

"Point Break," Thor tensed, clearly expecting another angry tirade. "Your room is all made up for you; you're staying here. No arguments."

The relief on Thor's face was palpable making Tony almost feel bad for the grief they'd all given him. But not quite.

As Tony retired to his room, he asked Jarvis to tell Natasha to get herself to bed. He thought that sometimes Natasha confused herself with the super soldier the way she went all out in her training sessions.

Tony lay for a long time staring into darkness, listening to Pepper's steady breathing. Now that they knew the threat was definitely there, he felt a certain calmness settle over him. It seemed that it was the uncertainty that had rattled him the most. He could feel his eyes getting heavy and eventually succumbed to the sweet relief of unconsciousness…

Tony bolted awake, panting like a rabid dog, with sweat dripping down the back of his neck.

"You 'kay?" Pepper mumbled, sleepily, sitting up beside him and resting her hand against the arc reactor glowing in his chest.

"Weird. Dream", he huffed out. The details were foggy and getting more obscure the longer he was awake. He allowed Pepper to gently guide him back against his pillows, his breathing starting to even itself out.

"Wanna talk about it?" she sounded more awake already and Tony knew that she'd sit up all night with him, despite the fact that she had a gazillion things to do the following day, if he wanted to recount every last detail of whatever freaky nightmare had awoken him. There was a time when he may have allowed her to do so, may even have called her up at 2am, when she was his assistant, and expected her to marvel at his genius or soothe his ego, and still assume that she would be at the top of her game the following day. Thankfully, those days were behind them.

Tony pressed a gentle kiss to Pepper's strawberry-blonde hair and told her that he couldn't remember what the dream was about, but that it was probably to do with the hideous lumberjack shirt that Steve had thought it appropriate to wear to the last Stark party. Pepper giggled into his shoulder before promptly falling back to sleep.

Tony could feel himself starting to drift back off too when the back of his eyelids was lit up by a fluorescent green light.

He cautiously opened his eyes to find the whole room aglow.

The light vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. His groggy mind couldn't process what that meant for some time; he was half convinced that he was still dreaming. And then it hit him.

_Loki._

Tony clapped the bedroom light on, startling Pepper back to wakefulness, and flew to the window. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see but New York looked completely undisturbed. He turned back to find Pepper staring uncomprehendingly at a scrap of paper in her hand. After she'd studied it for a few moments she turned worried eyes to him and held out the paper, her hand trembling.

"I'm not sure what it means," she said, "but it can't be anything good".

Tony practically snatched the paper from her hands before devouring the words on it:

**You may wonder why it is you who has been spared this night, but I think it fitting that you be the one to shoulder this burden. It was you, after all, who opened my eyes to those that I had underestimated.**

**I will not be bested again.**

**We shall meet once more, I am sure, however you shall be friendless when my armies next descend.**

**Treat my brother well, though he has been little more than a tiresome oaf, he is a Prince of Asgard and should be remembered as such.**

Tony felt his heart pounding in his chest. He knew that he should move, go see what devastation Loki had wrought on the rest of the team, but his legs felt like lead.

Loki had murdered hundreds of people, either by his own hand or on his orders, but would he really murder his own brother and his teammates in their beds? And leave Tony to live with the guilt of surviving them?

_Treat my brother well -_what did that even mean? Was Tony supposed to arrange a funeral fit for a god?

Tony sank back on to the bed and felt Pepper shift to sit beside him.

"I have to go see", he croaked out. "I have to know what he's done to them".

"I'll come with you", she took his hand as she spoke and pulled him from the bed. Normally he would have protested, not wanting her to have to witness whatever horrors awaited them, but he didn't have the strength to face this alone.

Before they could make for the door, a hesitant, British voice spoke seemingly out of the air.

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr Stark, but your presence is required immediately in the common area… Miss Potts, you had better come too".

The pair exchanged startled looks before running full speed out of the suite. By unspoken agreement they bypassed the elevator and headed straight for the stairs, flying down them at breakneck speed, arriving at the common area completely out of breath.

At first Tony thought the room was empty and had a moment of panic that Loki had somehow infiltrated Jarvis' system and was luring he and Pepper into a trap, but then he felt Pepper's nails dig into his hand. Hard. He followed her gaze to…

"You have got to be shitting me!"

"Careful, Tony; Steve doesn't like that kind of talk".

Tony stared, completely dumbstruck, at the tiny redhead smirking up at him.

"You know what, Romanoff" protested a taller blonde boy with a slight pout.

Tony stared about the room, mouth agape, at the utter ridiculousness that his eyes were trying to sell him as truth. He turned to Pepper, hoping for a 'gotcha' smile and for his real teammates to jump out of their hiding places and tell him where in the hell they stole five children from at three in the morning.

Tony's hopes, however, were dashed when he was greeted with Pepper's starkly white face and panic-stricken eyes.

"Pep," he whispered urgently, "please tell me I'm dreaming here".

"Tony", a nervous, solemn-looking boy with untidy brown hair appeared at his side wearing an ill-fitting grey t-shirt and tartan pyjama bottoms, "maybe you should sit down; you don't look too good".

A strangled cry was all that Tony could manage to issue, so incredulous was he at what he was seeing. He allowed himself to be led to the couch, Pepper following in his wake, both staring wide-eyed at the miniature Avengers assembled around them. _I'm gonna kill that greasy-haired son of a bitch!_


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stood at the head of the conference table in his boardroom. Pepper sat to his right, studiously taking notes - about what Tony wasn't sure as, so far, the meeting had been filled with nothing but silence.

Tony looked around the table at the people who, just a few short hours ago, had been classed as Earth's mightiest heroes. Steve sat with his back to the window that filled up one half of the room; his short, dark-blonde hair was slightly mussed as though he had been running his hands through it all night. His blue eyes looked tired and the light bags under them looked out of place on his little-boy face. The disgruntled pout and slightly furrowed brow had been an almost permanent fixture on his face since the transformation had happened.

Next to the young captain a tiny black combat boot was propped up on the table. A mop of wavy, red hair and a pair of startling green eyes was all Tony could make out of the mini assassin.

Bruce sat directly opposite to Tony with his hands folded, but fidgeting, upon the table. Unlike the night before, Bruce had made some effort to tame his hair into a more respectable style. He chewed his lip nervously, waiting for Tony to start talking.

Finally, Tony looked to Clint and Thor who were sitting next to Pepper. Clint had spiked his mousy brown hair in to a mohawk making him look, to Tony, like an extra in an 80's coming-of-age movie. His Shield-issued uniform looked little more than a Hallowe'en costume on his small frame.

Thor had pulled his hair back into a ponytail; his eyes were downcast, one hand firmly grasping Mjolnir, which looked ridiculously large in his now-small fist.

Tony cleared his throat, glanced at Pepper for reassurance, and jumped straight in.

"Listen up, kids! Clearly, we have a little problem on our hands and, until we get this mess sorted out, you're all officially grounded". Tony was glad to see his joke brought forth more smiles than scowls. He smiled back at his comrades, trying hard to claw down the panic that was wrapping tightly around his chest. _How in the seven hells am I supposed to fix this?_

"Tony, if I may?" It was strange to hear such a young boy sounding so authoritative. Tony took a seat, gesturing for Steve to go ahead and say what was on his mind.

"I appreciate that like this", he gestured to his new, compact stature, "we don't pose much of a threat to Loki, but we can't just sit on our asses –"

"Language" cut in Clint with an impish grin on his face. Steve ignored the archer completely.

"- and let him wreak havoc; and we certainly can't expect others to step into our shoes. We may not be able to go up against him physically but –"

"Can't we?"

This time Steve did pause, glancing to his left at the source of the interruption.

"If we want to be listened to then we sit properly at the table, young lady".

Tony was treated to an eyeroll from Natasha, but the combat boot slid off the table and she sat a little straighter in her chair. Even with her adjusted position, however, her chin still barely reached above the tabletop.

"You think we could fight him like this?" Steve was incredulous, looking about at his colleagues for support. "We barely survived his army when we were firing on all cylinders."

Natasha shrugged a tiny shoulder.

"I don't think we need to take him on _exactly _as we are".

She shrugged again and looked disinterestedly around the room.

"Care to share with the class, Red? Or should we play a game of 20 questions? … and don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady!"

"Call me 'young lady' one more time, Stark; I dare you".

Tony visibly gulped and sat back quietly in his chair, under no illusions that Natasha's new kindergarten physique took nothing away from her deadly nature.

"But as to sharing," she finally continued. "I think we could use your Ultron design… but maybe modify some of the suits so we can be in them, and we could each control a certain unit of them".

Tony stared, dumbfounded, at the tiny girl in front of him; her green eyes stared back unwaveringly.

"How…? When…? What...?" Tony looked to Bruce and Pepper looking for any sign that either of them had revealed his secrets to the spy; however, both looked as shocked as him at Nat's words. He turned back to Natasha and was met with her unflinching gaze.

"You've been snooping", he finally got out, pointing an accusing finger in her direction. The redhead scoffed at him.

"Please, Tony," she drawled, a slight smirk on her rosebud lips, "it's my job to snoop".

Tony found it difficult to argue with that, but it still rankled him, more than he'd ever let on, that someone he now considered a friend could spy on him. He had considered his lab his safe haven but now he wasn't so sure. _Is she still reporting on me to Fury?_

"Don't worry," she added softly, "I'm not feeding info back to anyone, not even Nick". _Great, so she's a mind-reader now too._

"What is this Ultron?" asked Thor, speaking for the first time since Loki had weaved his magic spell.

Tony sighed, rubbing his tired eyes and wondering how best to present his master plan. He had not been prepared to share this with everyone just yet; he was unsure how they would react to such a bold undertaking.

"Ultron is a programme I have been working on since New York, with a little help from my good friend, Bruce".

Bruce gave a shy, clipped smile as he avoided the curious gazes of his teammates.

"We need to protect the earth from whatever the hell is out there," he pointed skyward, although he was sure everyone had understood where he meant, " but we're too few, and there are already so many threats _here_ that are surrounding us; there's no way we can do the job we're here to do without some help. So," he paused, looking at the young expectant faces before him, "I've created a programme that could mobilise a suit of armour around the whole world, which could neutralise any threat before it even shows up on our radars".

A stunned silence followed this announcement.

"And…that would actually work? How would you control them?" this from the archer whose only interactions with technological advances, as far as Tony had witnessed, involved exploding arrows.

"I wouldn't control them directly," Tony explained patiently, "the programme would run itself, kind of like Jarvis, and the suits would be coded to respond appropriately to threats and have an almost hive functionality so that they could work together instinctually as a unit…a little like us".

"Are they ready?" asked Steve. Tony took a moment to answer; he had been sure that Steve would be the biggest nay-sayer about his plan, which is maybe why he'd never shared his ideas with the group before.

"Not quite," he admitted. "At least they're not ready to go off-planet yet. Plus, I need some more time to work on their instincts; they don't quite understand how to recognise non-violent threats just yet. But they can work together, and I can override them to follow my commands".

His comrades looked suitably impressed, which help tend to Tony's ego a little.

"And you can get us suited up too, yes?" Tony was almost awed at the tiny redhead's flawless ability to still radiate such a fearless aura, even though she looked like a six-year-old.

"Yes", Tony acquiesced, reluctantly, "but it's going to take time. Believe it or not, I hadn't planned on sending a bunch of kids out to fight crime, so none of my suits would be appropriate for any of you just yet. I'll need to get your new measurements, for a start, and I'll need to re-programme some of the bots to respond to each of your commands, and see how I can get you to work as one with a suit that'll be two foot taller than you".

He looked at them all, feeling a little sadness in his heart. Although he knew they were mentally the same people they had been last night, their little childish faces were making him feel like a monster sending kids off to fight a war.

"Right", Tony clapped his hands, making sure that he had everyone's attention, "if we're really going to do this then we need to get to work. Pepper, if you wouldn't mind being my glamorous assistant; we have a long few days ahead of us"

"First things first," said Pepper as she gracefully stood from the table. "Shopping!"

Tony looked alarmed at her unexpected announcement.

"Pep, I really think we have more pressing things to attend to, don't you?!"

Pepper rolled her eyes good naturedly at her genius partner.

"The only clothes that have shrunken to kiddy size are the ones they were wearing when they transformed. They can't be walking around in dirty clothes all the time, especially when we don't know whether we can actually turn them back". She finished with an apologetic smile to the group, who looked more than a little perturbed with the idea of being stuck as children forever.

Pepper gathered her things and left the boardroom, promising to be back as soon as she could. The others all turned to look back at Tony expectantly.

"Well" boomed Thor, looking happier than he had all day, "spot of lunch, anyone?"

Tony sighed resignedly.

"Jarvis," he called as he started to follow Pepper out of the boardroom, "get some burgers sent up to the lab for us please".

"Of course, Mr Stark".

A chorus of childish cheers followed Tony of out the door, and he allowed himself a small smile at the sound.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this fic, it really means a lot to me. If anyone has any comments about anything they think may need improving

upon, I am more than happen to take those on board.

I will just say, that although the programme has been mentioned, Ultron 'himself' won't actually be making an appearance - this story is not looking to re-do Age of Ultron, it's just acting as a stand-in.

Once again, I own nada when it comes to the MCU/Marvel characters (apart from some well-worn DVD's and my own Black Widow fan gear!)

Enjoy :)

* * *

Some hours after Pepper had left on her shopping trip found Tony alone in his lab, with a splitting headache, sketching out his designs for the new suits he would need to make for his miniature teammates. Although they all still possessed their adult memories it seemed that, as time wore on, they were allowing themselves to regress and act as would be expected of actual children.

Just in those few short hours Tony had already broken up three fist fights, sent a robot to fish Clint out of the vents (he had removed his hearing aids again and was unable to hear them shouting for him), had to clean up the aftermath of a food fight, and had even wiped away a few tears (also from Clint, who had poorly misjudged a jump from the workbench and twisted his ankle).

Tony closed his eyes for a moment, trying to will the throbbing behind his eyes away. He jumped suddenly, knocking his knee against the desk, as something prodded him none too gently in the back.

He whirled around in his chair to find little Natasha gazing innocently up at him.

"Please tell me you don't need help going to the bathroom".

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ha ha, very funny, Shell Head", she drawled. "Anyone ever tell you that you should be a comedian?"

"Now that you mention it…" he smirked at her disgruntled face. "What can I do for you, _young lady?_ Tell Uncle Tony".

"You need to have a word with Pepper", she demanded, arms folded in contempt. "She's just got back with a ridiculous amount of clothing".

"And?" Tony asked, not understanding why that would warrant a talking to.

"She wants us to have a _fashion show_". It took every ounce of willpower that Tony possessed not to laugh in Natasha's face; her outrage would normally have him quaking in his boots but, now, she just looked adorable. Tony did still possess enough self-preservation, however, to not assume that Natasha's newfound cuteness would stop her exacting painful revenge on him if she saw fit, so he swallowed down the bubble of laughter threatening to emerge and turned back to his desk in order to straighten out his face.

Once he composed himself, he stood and, without thinking, offered his hand to the small girl at his side. Natasha looked at him, aghast, before flouncing out of the lab ahead of him. Tony mentally berated himself for his momentary lapse – _it's the lack of sleep, it must be _– before following her slight form through the door.

Natasha had already disappeared, so Tony had to check with Jarvis where he was supposed to be heading. He exited the elevator on the floor below the common area and headed away from the shooting range and towards the gym.

He popped his head cautiously around the doorframe to see that all of the gym equipment that was not bolted down had been moved to the side of the room, and a long line of exercise mats had been placed down the middle like a runway. At the top end of the room he could see Steve and Thor erecting two tents, another three were already constructed; these were clearly going to be makeshift changing rooms.

Pepper had somehow managed to get a small sofa positioned at the bottom of the runway where she was sat chatting happily to Bruce. Tony did another quick sweep around the room until a flash of red caught his eye. Natasha and Clint were sitting up on the ledge of the climbing wall, heads together, whispering animatedly. As if sensing his gaze, Natasha turned her eyes to Tony before jerking her head pointedly in Pepper's direction.

Tony reluctantly headed over to Pepper, unsure who it was safer to piss off – the woman who shared his bed and ran his company, or the six-year-old assassin who had a penchant for hiding knives and guns in easy to reach places.

"Hey babe," he greeted Pepper with what he knew to be winning smile. "Scoot", this he directed at Bruce, who jumped quickly off the couch but moved only far enough to sit on the arm, next to Pepper. Tony glared at him, hoping to convey that this was to be a private conversation, but Bruce only smiled in response, unfazed.

"Honey, Sweetums, Love of my life".

"Spit it out Tony".

"As exciting as a children's fashion show would surely be…is this not maybe a little frivolous considering…I don't know…there's an alien god amassing an army to come and kill us, and we are five soldiers down?" he smiled at her again but, judging by the look on Pepper's face, it was not quite as charming as he had been aiming for.

"Tony", he hated when she used that condescending tone, it usually meant he was about to get his ass handed to him. "Believe it or not, I am fully aware of the situation we find ourselves in. I am also fully aware that none of you have had a decent sleep in days and, although you all think you hide it s_o_ well, you're all extreme worriers – and this is coming from me – at the best of times so I know that you could all use some time to wind down a little, to free up your minds so that instead of worrying constantly you may actually be able to think clearly about what you need to do from here."

Tony thought about it a little and could see that Pepper had a good point; they were a somewhat highly-strung group which, when tensions were high, often resulted in arguments and fighting. Tony had witnessed enough of that already over the last few days.

"Maybe you're right," he conceded.

"Always am, babe", Pepper nudged him lightly and added with a wink, "I'll let you break the good news to Nat".

"No need" said a voice right beside him. Tony felt his whole body spasm at the shock.

"Will you stop doing that?!" he all but shouted. "Sweet Jesus, you're like a creepy ninja".

Natasha rolled her eyes at him before vaulting gracefully up on to the back of the couch.

"I could be a judge instead" she suggested, hopefully. "Or I could be the DJ for the show?"

"Nuh-uh", said Pepper. She picked the small girl up and plonked her back on the floor. Tony held his breath waiting for Natasha to whip out a taser or scissor kick Pepper in the face for daring to man-handle her.

Instead Natasha pouted and crossed her arms, trying to stare Pepper into submission. Tony was pretty sure that he would have caved pretty quickly if those eyes had been turned on him. Pepper, however, remained unmoved. Smiling gently at the petite redhead she merely gestured towards the tents the boys were finishing up with.

"Go on, I'll bring the clothes in to you in a second".

Tony was astonished that Natasha didn't put up more of a fight but, instead, made her way, as directed, to the other end of the gym.

"You're amazing", he mock-whispered to his girlfriend. "Teach me".

Pepper merely laughed at him before ushering Bruce along the runway to his tent and shouting for Clint to get down from the ledge.

Fifteen minutes later and Pepper was back on the couch with Tony whilst Jarvis had cranked up the tunes and put on some strobe lighting. Whilst Pepper had been busy with the others Tony had also instructed Jarvis to film the show – he was definitely going to hold this over them all for a long time.

First up, to no one's surprise, was Clint. Clint currently looked about nine years old and he hit the runway with all the energy and enthusiasm one would associate with a boy of that age. He was also a ridiculous show off. He pranced down the runway like a gazelle, ankle clearly no longer troubling him, showcasing his agility and humour with every pose and somersault executed almost perfectly (his spatial awareness was still a little off in his new body). He sported a pair of black leggings and a purple top with a silver arrow emblazoned across it.

Pepper was clapping along to the music enthusiastically and even Tony found himself tapping his foot along to the beat. They both cheered when Clint finally finished his routine and exited the runway giving exaggerated bows all the way into his tent.

Next up was Bruce, and the gear change was brutal. Where Clint had been energetic and silly, Bruce was shy and awkward. He practically shuffled his way across the mats, barely lifting his head until he reached the end of the runway. He wore a pair of dark grey slacks and a green button-down shirt which, despite being new and the correct size for him, still managed to look a little shabby now that it was on him. He tried for one half-hearted pose and a quick smile, before quickly shuffling back the way he came.

Although shyness was a thing of great mystery to Tony, he had come to understand the painful awkwardness that Bruce felt with any form of public performance and even this, with only two of his friends as an audience, was a huge endeavour for him. Tony found himself cheering extra loud for Bruce as he rushed headlong back to his tent.

Thor hit the runway next. He looked a long way from Asgard in a red tracksuit and a thin hairband holding his long blonde hair off his face. Like Clint, Thor was happy to be the centre of attention and took to the task like his life depended on it. He strutted and posed like a professional and even blew Pepper a kiss as he reached the end of the runway; Tony pretended to be outraged and shooed him away.

Thor's transformation had left him looking like a 10-year-old; of all the mini-Avengers, only he and Bruce seemed to be in the double digits. Where Bruce embodied the awkwardness of an adolescent however, Thor maintained the confidence of a spoiled princeling, but with the astounding charm of one who has a loving heart.

Next up came Steve, who looked in body to be about the same age as Clint, but who's bearing and furrowed brow had made him seem so much older. Pepper had kitted Steve out in blue jeans and navy polo t-shirt. He surprised Tony by strutting confidently down the runway, pouting and posing like he was in Zoolander. Tony often teased Cap about being so straight-laced and having a stick up his ass, but clearly the super soldier had a sense of humour that he'd been keeping to himself (or maybe just not sharing with Tony).

Steve struck a final pose before flouncing dramatically into his tent and Tony had to offer Pepper a tissue to wipe her eyes; she was laughing so hard at Steve's antics that she had started crying. There was a slight pause after Steve had finished his catwalk; Natasha was clearly still having to talk herself into being a willing participant.

Pepper sobered up immediately when Natasha finally graced them with her presence, and the tears in her eyes seemed to hold a different meaning now. Natasha, small even in her usual form, was now absolutely tiny compared to the boys. Tony felt a rush of affection for the girl as she walked sullenly down the runway. Although Pepper had purchased many different outfits in an array of styles, Natasha had chosen to wear a lemon summer dress with a blue short-sleeved cardigan for her catwalk debut. She had paired it with a giant blue flower clip which sat against her wavy red locks.

The cute and girly outfit was offset by her grumpy expression and folded arms. She deigned to stop at the end of the runway, feet planted squarely and chin held high, before turning gracefully on her heel and stomping back the way she came.

Tony glanced at Pepper out of the corner of his eye and saw her eyes still wet with unshed tears and her hand resting lightly on her stomach. He knew, without asking, that she was thinking of the little girl she had dreamed of having for years. He didn't think, however, that Pepper's imagination had ever stretched to defiance, eye-rolling, and a hidden weapons cache – _although she does want to have a child with _me_, so maybe it does. _

The fashion show continued for almost two hours, until even Clint had started to flag. Bruce had become a little more confident as the show had worn on, even managing some silly poses that the others had been teaching him between sets. Natasha, although still unenthusiastic, had at least managed a few smiles and twirls on her last couple of walks.

For her final outing Natasha sported a pair of black leggings and a plain white top. She had tied her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and had foregone any shoes. As she stood at the top of the runway Tony could clearly see her debating with herself about something, her tiny shoulders heaved with some unseen turmoil. Jarvis, seemingly on Natasha's command, changed the upbeat music to a classical strain that was only vaguely familiar to Tony. He looked to Pepper for an explanation, but she seemed just as confused as he was.

At first Natasha stood motionless, the music slowly building to fill the cavernous space. The boys were all loitering by the tents watching to see what the little redhead would do. As the music started to swell Natasha finally moved.

Tony was awestruck; he couldn't take his eyes off Natasha as she danced across the mats. He had always known her to be lithe and graceful, but this was something else. This was art.

Her movements were fluid and completed to perfection, but Tony could see rage in those movements, and sadness; emotions that Natasha usually kept hidden from the world.

She ended with a tumble that left her on the floor, tiny shoulders shaking as she tried to rein in all the emotion she had poured into her performance. The room was silent. No one moved. No one seemed to be breathing.

And then all at once they started cheering and clapping, tears visible on every enthralled face.

The adulation was apparently too much for Natasha. She whipped herself up off the ground and fled the room. As she flashed past the couch Tony heard a tiny sob escape her. Tony instinctively made to go after her but a gentle hand on his arm quelled his movement.

"Leave her be," Pepper's voice was fraught with emotion. "She needs time".

Tony glanced helplessly back at the door Natasha had disappeared through, and then around at the boys who looked a mixture of tired, shocked and upset. Pepper lightly kissed him on the head before announcing she was going to make dinner and instructing everyone else to tidy up before the food was ready.

Tony spent the next twenty minutes helping the boys to put the gym back to its usual state, but the whole time his mind kept flitting back to Natasha, her impromptu ballet show, and the emotions that she had tried, and failed, to keep at bay.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to anyone who has chosen to read this story, it really means a lot. Reviews are also always appreciated.

Enjoy :)

* * *

Natasha chose not to join the rest of them for dinner that evening and, instead, locked herself in her room. She opened the door briefly in order for Steve to pass her some food but that was all anyone saw of her for the remainder of the night.

Tony was still reeling from the emotions the little redhead had displayed earlier and, judging by the subdued atmosphere at the dinner table, the others seemed to be similarly preoccupied.

In order to cheer everyone up Pepper had suggested an after-dinner film, however Tony felt they had spent enough time on leisurely activities and politely retired back to the lab. He was followed by Bruce who set to work helping him, inputting measurements and codes as instructed.

Tony, meanwhile, was re-programming robots into smaller units and assigning them an Alpha to whose commands they would unfailingly respond. The work was arduous but kept his mind focussed away from Natasha and the impending threat of alien invasion.

The pair worked long into the night, which was nothing unusual, however Tony noticed that Bruce was making more mistakes than usual and seemed to spend moments at a time staring into space. Tony finally shooed him off to bed realising, worryingly, that the mini Avengers had not only taken on childish traits in the transformation, but also their more pressing need for rest.

Tony didn't want to ponder too much on how that might affect them in battle. He was already stressing about them being hurt, more than he usually would; he didn't need another worry to add to his never-ending list of fears.

With Bruce's quiet companionship gone, Tony found it more difficult to stop his mind from wandering from the task at hand. His thoughts, inevitably, drifted back to Natasha.

Tony had first met Natasha when she was posing, under Shield's orders, as a secretary called Natalie Rushman. Beautiful and mysterious, she had awed him from the start. Upon learning of her true role in his life, spying on him for Nick Fury, he had felt betrayed and angry.

In the time they had come to know one another since New York, however, his trust in her had started to grow. There was always something though, that kept them at arm's length from one another.

There was a slight niggling doubt, on Tony's part, that Natasha's interactions with him may not always be completely sincere. As a result, he knew he mostly kept their relations superficial and professional. Still, he had seen her with Barton and Rogers, joking and even goofing around, and he found himself somewhat envious of the relationships they had been able to forge with her.

Tonight, she had poured her soul out on to that runway – displaying the emotions and honesty that Tony had, on occasion, accused her of being void of. Clearly there was still a lot he needed to learn about the infamous Black Widow. _Like where did she learn to dance like that? When did she start fighting? Or killing? How did she end up needing to build so many walls around herself?_

Realising he was unlikely to get anymore work done, Tony finally shut down all the computer systems as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon (not that he could tell from the lab, he had a strict 'no windows' policy around his work) and headed up to bed. On top of his concern about Natasha, and his worry over how these super-children were going to fare in a battle against aliens, Tony was also in a constant state of panic about Loki's masterplan.

It was a thought that had come to him many times throughout the day; _why hasn't he attacked yet? _Loki surely knew that his spell had worked and that the Avengers and, therefore, Earth were at their most vulnerable. Tony couldn't understand why the god had seemingly retired from the field. Indeed, when one of Thor's generals, Lady Sif, had checked in with them earlier in the day it was to report that they could currently find no trace of Loki on Earth.

Tony stood waiting for the elevator, his mind being barraged by all the things he needed to fix or defeat, when an ear-splitting wail suddenly pierced the air around him. Tony could just about make out Jarvis' voice trying to tell him something, but he couldn't discern a single word over the alarm system.

Panic ripped through him at the thought of Loki finally attacking them. _Please, no:_ _We're not ready yet. _

Knowing that the elevator went into lockdown in the event of a security breach, Tony started heading quickly for the stairs. He had barely made it halfway down the corridor when the door to the stairwell burst open. Tony glimpsed a streak of blue heading directly towards him however, before he could call up his suit to protect him against this strange phenomenon, a red haze seemed to descend over his eyes, and he found himself unable to move.

Tony found himself stood amongst destruction and chaos. The terrifying, armoured reptiles that had terrorised New York meandered lazily in the dark sky above his head. Panic gripped at his chest as he took in the sight before him.

Amongst the rubble on the floor Tony saw his teammates lying, bloodied and battered: dead. Cap's shield was broken in half, Mjolnir hung limply from Thor's wrist, Clint's arrows lay prone all around him; clearly no match for whatever had attacked him, and even the big green guy could not have saved Bruce from the way his body had been broken. Natasha lay apart from the others, not a scratch on her porcelain skin. Tony started towards her, thinking maybe she had been spared, until he saw her eyes; usually, so calculating and observant, instead they were glassy and void of life.

Tony sank to his knees before his colleagues, his friends, despair coursing through his veins. Cap's face was swollen with the beating it had taken but Tony could sense a judgement in his still, dead features.

This is what he had feared when he had received Loki's note. This is what he had always feared; that no matter how brilliant his designs, or how advanced his technology was, it would not be good enough. That he would have to watch his friends die all around him and not be able to do a damn thing to save them. And, of course, the world was too cruel to allow him to perish with them. No; Tony Stark would be spared that sweet relief. He would be left just as broken and battered as them, but unmercifully alive; alone.

Tony stared, horrified, as the bodies of his teammates transformed before his eyes. They remained just as shattered and bloody as before, their eyes still glassy with death, but they were no longer the adults Tony had fought beside. In their places were the broken bodies of the children Loki had turned them in to.

Tony came to, still standing in the corridor outside of the lab. His heart was racing, and his mind felt foggy, the image of his teammates, both young and old, lying dead still swam before his eyes. _What the hell was that?!_

It took him a moment to realise that the wailing siren of his alarm had ceased, and that Jarvis was still trying to tell him something. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog, finally starting to become more aware of his surroundings.

"- and Miss Potts is down in the lobby now, with Happy and your construction bots. They are repairing the door as we speak".

"They're okay?" Tony asked, eventually managing to make his legs continue moving towards the stairs.

"Yes, sir", Jarvis replied. "Neither were affected by the intruders."

"Well, that's a relief. So, it was just me that got hit with the funky voodoo?"

"No, sir", Jarvis replied, hesitantly. "As I was saying, those beings visited each of the other Avengers' suites after they approached you. As you have no surveillance in the suites themselves, I am unable to determine how the others have fared. There is a lot of noise coming from Dr Banner's apartment but the only person who has directly responded to my inquiries is Captain Rogers. I have had no answer from the others".

"Great," Tony replied, on his way up to Bruce's floor. "Do we know what it was?"

"They, sir," said Jarvis, "appeared to be two humans; a male and a female. They have enhanced abilities but, due to the speed at which they were travelling, I have been unable to get a clear read on them just yet."

"Thanks, Jarvis," Tony was stood outside Bruce's door, listening to the roars and bangs coming from inside, as his suit knitted itself around his body. "Keep trying to figure out who the gruesome twosome are and keep trying to get through to the others."

"Of course, Mr Stark."

All of the Avenger's living suites were designed to be accessed by the owner only, but Tony had also installed a programme that allowed him to have access to each suite, _Landlord privileges, if you will_. Somehow, however, Natasha had managed to override this and had barred him completely from gaining admission to her suite– Tony had feigned indignance at this when he had found out, but he was secretly impressed. It was unsettling to realise, therefore, that two strangers had not only managed to infiltrate the tower but had gained entry into every one of the Avengers' private apartments.

Tony took a deep breath before entering Bruce's apartment. What was usually a den of serenity was now utter chaos. A mini green rage-monster was hurling anything he could get his hands on against every available wall and surface. Shards of glass and porcelain littered the floor, even the little crystal figurines that Bruce collected from each new place he visited had not been spared.

Tony shot a few warning blasts out of his palms, trying to get mini-Hulk's attention. When he finally got his wish, Tony was set upon by wailing green fists of fury. The suit Tony had donned for the occasion was strong enough to stand up against a rampaging elephant, yet mini-Hulk still managed to knock him flat on his back.

"Easy there, big guy, give an old man a chance!"

Despite knowing that there was nothing he could do that would actually hurt or damage Bruce when he was in this form, Tony was still hesitant to use his blasters against his young friend. But as the Hulk's small, powerful fists started pummelling Tony's helmet, almost crushing it against his skull, Tony felt he had little choice left.

The blast hit mini-Hulk square in the chest, sending him flying backwards away from Tony's prone form. He hit the far wall with a dull thud, before dropping out of sight behind the solid oak coffee table.

Tony heaved himself off the floor and, on confirming that the danger had passed, disengaged from his suit. He found young Bruce curled on his side, stark naked, shivering. Tony quickly whipped a scruffy tartan throw – _seriously, is he trying to infiltrate a Scottish clan? _– off the back of the sofa and placed it gently over Bruce's small frame.

Bruce stopped shivering after a few moments and allowed Tony to help him into a sitting position.

"D-d-did I hurt anyone? Did I hurt you?" he asked in a small voice.

Tony reassured him that the only damage was to Bruce's own figurine collection and Tony's ego. Tony wondered if Banner had any idea why he had changed into the Hulk, but Bruce could remember nothing except a red mist descending over him.

Tony left Bruce with a kiss on the head and instructions to come down for hot chocolate once he had found some clothes to wear.

Next Tony jogged up to Steve's floor. He found the young Captain sitting quietly on his sofa, looking at an old compass. On closer inspection, Tony could see that the compass held a photograph of a very familiar face.

"Aunt Peg?"

Steve jumped as though he had been electrocuted, and Tony quickly apologised for the intrusion.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked, echoing Steve's own question from a few days ago.

Steve offered him a wry smile, taking a moment before he answered the question.

"She was something else," he said, smiling fondly at the picture of Peggy Carter. "She was brilliant, and brave, and one of the fiercest people I ever met."

"Sounds like Peg alright".

The two shared a smile before Steve continued.

"Hers was the last voice I heard before I went under. I never expected to make it out alive; never expected to live in a world where we couldn't have the dance that I promised her".

Tony had heard all about Captain America from his father growing up, it had helped contribute to his less-than-friendly attitude towards the super soldier when they had first met. But Tony had also heard about Steve Rogers from his Aunt Peggy, and those stories had always made him laugh and want to meet the man who could light up her face, just from memory.

"You meant a lot to her," was all he could think of to say. It was still a little odd to him to be having adult conversations with people who looked like they should still be learning their times tables.

"I think sometimes –" Steve paused, clearly conflicted about what he wanted to say. Tony waited it out, sure that pushing him would only cause him to clam up entirely. "I think that sometimes I cling on to what we had, and what we could have had, as a way to stop myself from getting hurt now. I don't want to feel that pain again, so I cling on to the pain of losing her and push everyone else away. It feels…safer, somehow".

"Are we talking about someone in particular?" Tony finally pressed, unable to resist when Steve was being so open for once. But, clearly, Steve felt that he had already shared too much. He snapped the compass shut and stood to put it away in his bedroom.

Not a moment later, Tony heard a loud shout echoing down the corridor outside. Thinking the Hulk had made yet another appearance, Tony dashed to the open door and peered cautiously out.

Thor was barrelling down the corridor, face filled with grief. He charged straight at Tony, who could only stare in surprise as the small god threw himself against Tony's chest, body heaving with barely suppressed sobs. Tony automatically wrapped his arms around him, forgetting, in his shock, to be annoyed that his t-shirt was being covering in tears and snot.

"Hey, hey now!" he said, alarmed at Thor's violent display of emotion. "What is it? Talk to me!" He held Thor at arm's length, trying to make eye contact and get him to calm down enough to talk.

"My people", Thor choked out, "I have failed them. I – I – I must go to them; I must right this".

"Buddy…what in the hell are you talking about?"

Thor finally got his breathing under control, as Tony led him into Steve's apartment and guided him to the tan couch.

"I had a…vision, of sorts. I have left my people abandoned, and my actions will bring about their destruction. Heimdall…Heimdall called me 'destroyer'. I must go back".

Tony tried his best to assuage Thor's fears, but knowing little of the god's responsibilities and problems back on Asgard he felt woefully unprepared to be dealing with this at 7am when running on no sleep.

"Thor, buddy, I know this is ridiculously frustrating, but you are not going to be any help to your people like this. Besides, we need you here to help us fix this mess; your brother's not going to leave us alone just because you're not here".

"Adopted brother", mumbled Thor, eyes still glossy with the tears threatening to spill once more.

Tony noticed Steve, out of the corner of his eye, hovering in the doorway unsure of whether he could intrude in his own sitting room. Tony gestured for him to come in, but Steve had only taken two steps before a small voice was heard calling from the corridor.

Steve reached the corridor first, with Tony and Thor not far behind. Clint was walking slowly down the corridor, guiding Natasha with one arm around her back and the other gently tugging on her hand. The worry was evident on his face, and it quickly spread to the other members of the team.

Tony's heart almost stopped when he got a good look at the small girl. Natasha's eyes were glassy and void of emotion, almost exactly like in his vision. This Natasha, however, was definitely moving (even if the majority of that movement was being conducted by Clint).

Steve crouched before Natasha and bracketed her face gently with his hands, trying to get her eyes to focus on him. He and Clint were whispering frantically to one another whilst Natasha stood passively between them.

Bruce appeared suddenly from behind Clint, and Steve immediately moved to Natasha's other side, allowing Bruce to step in front of the comatose little girl and assess her.

"I think she's in shock", he finally diagnosed.

By group consensus the Avengers decided that some hot chocolate might help to bring her back to herself (Thor's suggestion of Asgardian mead was quickly shot down).

On the way down to the common area Clint filled everyone in on how he had escaped unscathed from the visions that had plagued the rest. Clint had been playing video games when the alarms had sounded and had quickly made his way into the vents, as was his preferred method of manoeuvring around the tower. He had reached Natasha's suite ("Oh, so she lets _you_ have unrestricted access") and found her sitting on her sofa, completely unresponsive.

As Tony set about making the hot chocolate – _with marshmallows; I'm not an animal, _Clint and Steve guided Natasha to the sofa, neither one willing to relinquish their closeness to her. Whilst Steve contented himself with merely holding Natasha's small hand in his own, Clint whipped out his phone and some earphones. He popped one bud into her ear and seemed to be showing her videos on his phone, hoping to elicit any sort of reaction, all the while keeping his phone shielded from the other members of the team.

As Tony got closer to the pair, he heard what sounded like a young girl's voice emanating from Clint's phone. As Tony drew up in front of the sofa, he was relieved to see a small smile tugging at the corner of Natasha's mouth, her eyes flickering between the phone screen and the steaming mug of chocolate Tony was holding out to her.

Taking the mug in her tiny hands Nat offered Tony a smile of gratitude, snuggling herself right between Clint and Steve, and then promptly avoiding everyone else's eyes. Tony felt it would be inappropriate to pry into what Natasha may have seen in her vision. Although he had never read her file, Tony was not oblivious to the fact that Natasha's past was littered with horrors, committed both by and against her, and he was sure she would be even more unwilling to share with an audience than usual.

The group sat in near silence, sipping on their hot chocolate and throwing uneasy glances at one another. The silence was only interrupted when Pepper and Happy made their way up to the living area with the news that the doors in the main lobby had been restored.

"Woah!" Happy had not yet witnessed the changes that had overcome the Avengers, and his shock at their altered state kept him unusually quiet whilst Tony, with a little help from the others, filled Pepper in on what had happened during the security breach.

"Excuse me, Mr Stark," Jarvis' voice got everyone's attention. "I have been able to get a clear image of the intruders and have ran it through all of our databases."

"And?" this from Clint who, in his eagerness to speak to the disembodied voice, had accidentally knocked his phone and earphones to the floor. Tony saw a brief flash of a dark-haired woman waving from the screen before Natasha whipped the phone up off the floor and into her pocket, her cat-like reflexes clearly returning to normal.

"They match with two case-files that have cropped up relating to a research facility in Sokovia. Their names are Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, however there is little else I can find relating to them. They appear to have enhanced abilities; the male possesses extreme speed; the female's ability is more difficult to discern".

"She is clearly a sorceress", declared Thor, confidently. His earlier anguish had abated, and he was now eagerly focussed on the problem at hand.

"Maybe", suggested Steve, tentatively, "or maybe there is a more mundane explanation".

"Like what?" asked Bruce, his natural curiosity evident on his face.

"Like maybe they are an experiment? A result of a new version of the serum? Plenty have tried over the years, each with varying results".

The group took a moment to process this idea; it was a worrying thought that a version of the serum that had given Steve his super strength and honed physique, could have imbued others with such terrifying abilities.

"So, they're definitely not in league with Loki?" asked Pepper; Tony could already see her mind whirring, worrying that their already crippling disadvantage had just increased tenfold.

"No," said Tony, "I think we can definitely assume that this a whole new problem. I also think it's safe to assume that whoever sent Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum now knows that we've fallen way too far down the rabbit hole, and I'm guessing they may be paying us another visit soon. We have to make sure that can't happen."

"How are we supposed to do that? I can't see us faring any better against enhanced humans than we would against aliens and gods."

"Thank you, Captain Doom-and-Gloom".

Steve rolled his eyes at Tony.

"Surprisingly, Steven, I wasn't planning on setting up a re-match. I was thinking more along the lines of relocating – making it more difficult for them to find us should they come looking."

The rest of the group exchanged surprised glances.

"Where would we go?" asked Steve, "And how would you keep working on the suits if we're elsewhere?"

"Steve, please", Tony had to fight really hard not to roll his eyes at the young boy, "I built my first suit in a cave, you really think not being in this lab will limit my genius? Frankly, I'm offended."

"So, you have somewhere in mind?" asked Clint, once again looking eager at the prospect of an unexpected adventure.

"Actually, yes. Pepper and I have a little holiday home out on Anna Maria Island , it's never been on Shield's files and it's not even listed under my name. So, if Ms Potts doesn't object," Pepper smiled at Tony from her place on the end of the couch, one arm wrapped protectively around Bruce, "who's up for a little sun, sea and sand?"

The young Avengers, and Happy, all cheered at the prospect of a pleasurable escape.

"Road trip!"

"Yes, thank you, Clint", said Pepper, "although if we need to move the suits, maybe an air trip would be more appropriate".

"And I thought I was the genius in this relationship," quipped Tony. "Pepper's right, we're going to fire up the quinjet and get the hell out of here. Red, do you think you can still pilot that thing if I get you a booster seat".

"Easy, Shellhead," smirked Natasha, "the quinjet seats are adjustable".

"Right then, twenty minutes to get packed and meet in the landing bay. Jarvis…"

"Yes, Mr Stark?"

"Get the suits and computer stations moved onto the quinjet please".

"Right away, Mr Stark".

As the others separated to go get their things together, Tony paused a moment with Pepper and Happy.

"I hope this works."

"It will, Tony, but I think it's time we brought in backup".

"No".

"Tony," Pepper warned.

"Nooo".

"Stop whining, you're acting more childish than the kids".

"You do know they're not _actually_ kids, right?"

Pepper merely glared at her petulant partner.

"I think Pepper's right".

"Woah, woah, woah! Time out!" Exclaimed Tony, "You two cannot start ganging up on me, I'm outnumbered here as it is!"

"No one is ganging up on you, Tony. We just need all the help we can get."

"Ugh, fine", he finally conceded. "But you can call him. I don't want to speak to him".

Pepper exchanged an exasperated look with Happy, both far too familiar with Tony's dramatics to try and argue the point with him.

"Fine," she agreed, "I will call Nick. You can go pack. For both of us". With that, Pepper left the common area, leaving Tony gaping after her retreating form.

"Me? Packing? Has she finally lost her mind?"

Happy ignored his boss and followed Pepper out of the room, going to fetch his own belongings from the guest quarter that he made use of when he sometimes stayed at the Tower.

Tony sat for a few moments, trying to give one of them some time to reconsider and come and save him from this hellish prospect. When he finally realised that neither of them was coming to rescue him, he hoisted himself off the sofa and made his way up to the top floor.

Although he fully believed that going off the grid was the best plan of action to avoid this new threat, Tony also felt sure that a change of scene would let the Avengers regroup and spend some time recovering from the visions visited upon them by the Maximoff siblings. _I just hope that taking them so far from familiar territory is not going to come back to bite me in the ass. _


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with this story.

Warning: this chapter touches on some of Natasha's backstory so there is some mild reference to abuse of a minor and violence/murder. This occurs when Tony and Natasha

are talking alone until the end of the chapter.

* * *

The flight out to Anna Maria Island was largely uneventful and gave Tony chance to check in with his mini comrades whilst Pepper placed a call to the, supposedly dead, former executive head of Shield.

Barton, who was supposed to be keeping Romanoff company whilst she manned the aircraft, was curled up, asleep, on a bench behind Natasha's chair. Tony lifted him gently and deposited him on a small camp bed he found in a storage locker. He made sure Clint was snugly covered by a blanket before continuing his rounds.

He found Thor and Bruce animatedly discussing space matters; Tony decided to leave them to it, not sure his exhaustion could keep up with their wild theories at the moment.

Steve was sitting on a bench opposite the one Tony had removed Clint from. Tony could see that a concerned frown was once again etched onto his young face. He sat next to the small super soldier and patted the young captain on his jean-clad knee.

"Penny for 'em".

Steve offered Tony a small smile, the frown easing slightly from his brow.

"Do you think she's okay?" he asked, his gaze trained pointedly on the chair back that was shielding Natasha from view.

Tony sighed, unsure how to even begin fathoming an answer to that question.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Cap".

"I just wish she'd talk to me", Steve whispered so quietly that Tony almost missed what he had said. Natasha, apparently, had no such difficulties.

"I can hear you, you know", her small voice piped up from the front of the craft. Tony had to stifle a laugh at the blush that spread rapidly over Steve's face.

"Eavesdrop much?" he quipped, defiantly.

Natasha's small face appeared around the side of the chair; her green eyes narrowed in a glare.

"Wanna come over here and say that to my face, Rogers?"

"No ma'am," said the young boy, in a decidedly less bold voice.

Natasha rolled her eyes before returning to her previous occupation, her small face disappearing out of view as she turned to the front of the quinjet.

Tony looked between Steve's sad, puppy dog face and the back of Natasha's chair.

"Something going on here I should know about?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, hoping the assassin's highly trained ears were focused elsewhere.

Steve's face was a picture of alarm at Tony's question.

"What? No! I'm worried about my friend, is that alright with you?"

"Easy, boy-o", Tony laughed, "I'm just teasing. It's just," he continued in a slightly louder voice, meaning for Natasha to hear this part, "I'm not sure Barton would appreciate you being so _worried _about his young lady-friend".

Without warning, a hair-tie flew from over the back of Natasha's chair, hitting Tony squarely between the eyes. Steve guffawed loudly at the shocked look on Tony's face.

Tony was spared any further humiliation by Natasha's announcement that they would shortly be arriving. He left the young captain, still laughing – _jeez, it wasn't that funny _– to round up the rest of the troupe and prepare for landing.

The beach house, although boasting its own private landing bay, a heated indoor swimming pool, and four large bedrooms, each with an ensuite, was much more modest that his mansion in Malibu, and considerably more subtle than the Avengers Tower.

It was also blissfully private.

The small group were noticeably energised by the change of scenery and were eager, despite their lack of sleep, to head straight for the private beach that fronted the house. Tony was powerless to say no when confronted with their sweet, begging little faces.

The group split to find their respective rooms and change. Tony and Pepper had the master bedroom - _again, billpayer here; these schmucks can slum it. _Natasha quite happily took herself off to the smallest of the bedrooms, alone. Pepper had also made the wise decision to make sure Thor and Clint were not sharing a room, instead Clint's boundless energy was to be foisted on Steve, in the hopes that his calm demeanour would rub off on the archer – _and pigs may fly. _Thor and Bruce, on the other hand, would be free to discuss realms, and gravity and whatever else long into the night together. Happy, to his chagrin, was allocated the basement den, which had no ensuite and smelt mildly of seaweed.

The group reconvened a short time later and Tony almost got a stitch laughing at the disgruntled faces of his comrades as Pepper made them line up on their way out so that she could lather them in sun cream. His mirth, however, was short lived as he discovered her overzealous care was not limited to the children.

The boys had all changed into swim shorts of varying colours, and even Bruce, achingly shy and forever in baggy, modest clothes, was eager to ditch his shirt and hit the water. Tony was therefore slightly confused when Natasha entered the sea still covered in a long, blue t-shirt.

"Did you forget to pick up a swimsuit for Red?" he asked Pepper, who was looking sufficiently gorgeous in her own dark blue two-piece.

"No, she has a costume on under the t-shirt," she replied, whilst settling onto a deckchair with a book in hand.

"But-" Tony faltered, unsure how to correctly express his query without sounding like an old pervert, "then why does she still have the t-shirt on?"

Pepper gave him one of those exasperated looks that told Tony, quite clearly, that she thought he was being extremely dense.

"Maybe," she explained, as though talking to a child, "Natasha is not comfortable showing that much skin".

Tony scoffed at the idea, his mind unwittingly flitting back to the spy's days as Natalie Rushman, with her never-ending supply of form-fitting dresses and those faux-model underwear shots that Tony had only thought about once since, _okay, maybe twice. _

"You know," continued Pepper, "it's really not surprising considering her history".

Tony's ears perked up at this, wondering whether Natasha had actually _shared_ something with Pepper, or if his partner was just surmising. Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony's still apparent cluelessness.

"If you had been trained your whole life to use your body in the ways Natasha has, and you still had to do that as part of your job even after you'd switched to working with the good guys, do you not think you might like, in your day-to-day life, to avoid that?"

Tony thought about it for a moment, his mind now fast-forwarding through the post-Rushman era of his relationship with Natasha, and he was surprised to realise that, other than at the occasional Stark party, Natasha's wardrobe was entirely conservative. Tony shamefully admitted to himself that the image of Natasha he had in his head of a scantily clad seductress was based entirely on his initial encounter with her, when she was merely playing a role. In actual fact, despite her flirtatious teasing of her teammates, and Tony's suspicions about her and Barton (_now, also, her and Steve_), Tony was unsure if Natasha even had much of a social life outside of her work.

"Besides," Pepper continued over Tony's stunned silence, "I don't think she's overly fond of the scars".

Tony blanched at that; he hadn't even given a thought to the mini Avengers still carrying the battle wounds of their adult counterparts. He knew the serum worked magic on Steve's body, leaving him looking fresh as a daisy not long after a battle, and the Hulk protected Banner from injury, but Thor, Nat and Clint all definitely sported evidence of past skirmishes. The idea of these tiny children being covered in scars sent Tony's stomach reeling. _CPS would have a field day. _

As Pepper had opened her book, putting an end to the conversation, and as Happy had opted to stay inside and nap, Tony decided to join the kids playing in the water. He stripped down to his red swim shorts, arc reactor glowing proudly from his bare chest, as he raced into the waves.

He scooped up a delighted Clint as he entered the water and chucked him out to sea, as far as he could. Clint's thrilled whoop, before he was swallowed by the water, had all the mini Avengers begging for a turn. Tony was soon regretting his impromptu action as his arms tired of the game long before his comrades did.

After he had finally convinced them that enough was enough, he had to battle his way back to shore, but his progress was hindered somewhat by the actions of his teammates. Whilst Nat and Clint clung to his shoulders, Bruce and Steve thought it was hilarious to wrap themselves around Tony's legs, whilst Thor pulled on his arm, trying to drag him back to the water. Tony was not above admitting that this was the first time his strength had held out against the God of Thunder.

Pepper had abandoned her book to watch Tony struggle back up the beach and her beatific smile was reward enough for his back pain as he dumped the giggling Avengers in a pile at her feet. Their laughter was short lived, however, as the unmistakeable sound of a helicopter invaded their secret paradise. The kids exchanged startled glances before racing back inside, but Tony and Pepper chose a more ambling pace up to the beach house, neither overly eager to greet their visitor.

By the time their guest was finally entering the beach house, the Avengers had all managed to dry themselves and change into more comfortable clothing. Nearly all, including Pepper and Tony, had opted for shorts and T-shirts. Natasha, instead, had chosen dark blue leggings covered in pink and purple flowers, and a plain blue top.

The group assembled in the large living room; the floor-to-ceiling windows offering them a glorious view of the beach outside. The children all managed to squeeze onto the couch, with Steve sitting on the arm, whilst Tony and Pepper opted for the loveseat, leaving the remaining armchair for their visitor.

Tony was surprised to see two people striding into the living room, but his disbelief at Fury telling someone else about their problem was completely overshadowed by his shock at who that someone was.

The silence in the room was deafening as the group stared, speechless, at the man standing unobtrusively beside Nick Fury.

"Looking pretty fly, for a dead guy," Clint's usual spark was missing from his quip, in fact Tony was alarmed to realise that the archer appeared on the brink of tears.

"I can explain," came the reply.

"I doubt that," Natasha, shockingly, was clearly struggling to keep her cool façade up, and the pain and betrayal she was evidently feeling was written all over her young face.

The man before them had the good grace to look ashamed but offered no further words to follow up his claim that he could provide answers.

"Hold up," said Tony, rising from his place beside Pepper to stand next to Steve. "What in the hell is this? _How _is this even possible?"

"That is a long story, Mr Stark," stated Fury, in his usual no-nonsense tone," a story that we do not have time for right now".

Tony looked to his right, at the confused and disappointed faces of Thor, Steve and Bruce, but it was the distraught look on Natasha's face, and the tears silently escaping Clint's eyes that pushed him to try and get some answers.

"I think we can make time, don't you? Just a few bullet points to bring everyone up to speed should do it." Tony folded his arms, trying his best to emulate Pepper's look of disgruntled expectation that usually had Tony spilling confessions left and right.

Unfortunately, Fury was immune to such tactics.

"I think we should get down to business; Coulson and I have-"

"Coulson and I?" Pepper was now standing behind the sofa, one hand resting lightly against Clint's heaving shoulders. "You think you can just brush this off with 'Coulson and I?"

"Oh, boy," Tony stated, a little gleefully, "You're in for it now."

"Are you seriously going to just stand there and ignore the pain you are clearly putting these kids through?"

"They're not _actually _ki_-_"

Pepper was in no mood to allow Fury to finish that thought.

"You think you can just waltz in here with a guy who we thought was dead, who we _mourned_? And just brush it off as an everyday occurrence. You think this is _acceptable_? How could you put them through this?" She gestured at Clint, who was no longer even trying to stem the flow of tears, his breath coming in hiccupping gasps.

"Don't worry, Pepper," Natasha said, in a dangerously quiet voice that somehow carried around the whole room. "Nick's an old hand at this; it's his fun little way of weeding out any rotten apples, isn't it, Nick?"

Natasha didn't wait for an answer before she fled the room and, after a few tense seconds, they heard a resounding slam from her bedroom door. Steve made to go after her, but Tony placed a restraining hand on his arm.

"I'll go," he said. Steve hesitated a moment before settling back onto the couch. Pepper, meanwhile, was leading Clint by the hand up the stairs to his own room. Tony left the three remaining Avengers glaring daggers at an unconcerned Nick Fury, and a shamefaced Phil Coulson.

Tony stopped outside Natasha's door, unsure whether it was wise to approach her whilst she was so upset. Despite his showy, playboy persona, Tony had always had a knack for providing comfort in quiet moments for his friends, but Natasha was a whole other kettle of fish. _Will she even want me here? Am I just going to aggravate her more?_

After a few moments of indecision Tony finally knocked on the door and, when there was no answer, he cautiously pushed it open and peered inside the room. Natasha was curled up on the bed, one arm shielding her face from Tony's view, small shoulders shaking with the effort of smothering the sound of her sobs.

Tony felt his heart breaking as he took in the sight of her, his mind unable to reconcile the image of this broken little girl with that of the fearless, badass woman he was used to seeing battling aliens and kicking mercenaries into next week.

Tony sat cautiously on the bed, Natasha's back to him as he reached out a gentle hand and rested it lightly on her small shoulder. He could feel Natasha making a concerted effort to still her trembling frame; even now she was unwilling to show more vulnerability than she could help.

"Nat," he ventured, only to be met with more silence. "Hey, come on, Red. Talk to me".

It was a few moments before Natasha sat herself up against the pillow, her face was flushed and tear-stained, but she had schooled her features back into her usual unreadable façade. She made no attempt to unburden herself upon Tony, so he decided that he best be the one to make the first move.

"You know, it was a shock for me too. I mean, of all the subterfuge and backhandedness at play when it comes to Nick, this really takes the cake. Can't say I really expected it of Coulson though; I mean the guy seemed to be nice enough; too nice, if you ask me. But, I guess I was mistaken; clearly he's spent too much time in the Nick Fury school of duplicity."

Still Natasha stayed quiet, Tony wasn't even sure if she was actually listening to him. Her face had returned to its usual porcelain hue and her eyes were no longer glassy with tears, her small hands, however, were clenched so tightly that Tony feared she'd be unable to uncurl them.

"Did you know him well? Y'know, before, I mean", he knew the answer to that was evident all over her face, but he just wanted her to talk to him.

"He was my handler," Natasha spoke so softly that Tony almost missed what she said. He had heard the phrase handler bandied about around Shield, but he had never had much need to ponder the semantics of the word before.

Unsure whether to push for more information or allow Natasha to reveal her secrets in her own good time, he decided to chance his arm, _and life, _and offer Natasha the comfort he felt she needed, even if she couldn't admit it. Tony cautiously placed his arm around Natasha's small shoulders, moving slowly to allow Nat to move away should she wish to. Tony was pleasantly surprised when the small girl didn't budge, in fact she manoeuvred herself so that she was snugly pressed against his side.

"When Clint brought me in," she finally continued, in that same quiet voice, "I was public enemy number one. No one would work with me; half of Shield were calling for me to be arrested, the other half just avoided me at all costs."

She took a deep, steadying breath, seemingly trying to gather her courage to continue; Tony squeezed her shoulders, pulling her gently to lean further into him.

"Nick and Clint fought my corner as best they could; Clint because he saw something in me that no one else did, Nick…well I guess Nick saw something different too. Coulson was already Clint's handler, he'd brought him back from the brink a few times, even helped him set up –"

She brought herself to a sudden stop and Tony sensed she'd been about to reveal something she shouldn't. She shook her head, as though to get rid of whatever secret she'd been about to spill.

"Anyway," she continued," it was eventually decided that Coulson would be my handler too; made sense as Clint and I would be partnered together all of the time anyway. It took a while for us to trust one another but we built up a solid relationship; in the end he became more than a mentor; he was my friend. At least… I thought he was".

Natasha drifted back into her previous silence, her face set in a thoughtful frown.

Tony had many questions for Natasha, but he was unsure how much she would be willing to share with him, and he was worried that she may come to regret being so open with him once her immediate shock had desisted.

"What was it?" he finally asked. "What was it that Clint saw in you?"

If Natasha was surprised at the question, she didn't show it. Her eyes, however had started to fill up again. Whatever Tony had been expecting to come out of the redhead's mouth, it was certainly not what followed.

"I begged him to kill me," she whispered. "I just wanted it to stop."

Tony felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Even hearing that from adult-Natasha's mouth would have been enough to destroy him, but to have it stated in that childish voice, with her tiny frame pressed up against his side was too much.

"Why?" he croaked out, unable to think of anything else to say.

"I was just so…tired," Nat finally turned to face him, and Tony could see it plainly in her green, tear-filled eyes; all the pain and suffering that she had endured, the pain she had made others endure, the guilt and regrets weighing her down, even now.

"How old were you when it started?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, but he found himself unable to stop himself from asking.

"I don't really know. I have no real memories of anything before the Red Room; vague flashes of faces and places, but I don't know if they're real memories or not. I know I was small, maybe this size, possibly smaller. I was the smallest in our group for a long time and the other girls thought I'd be easy enough to pick off, but I was quicker than them, smarter too. Some of those bigger girls didn't get chance to underestimate me a second time."

Natasha recounted her time in the Red Room in an almost robotic voice, like one in a trance, and Tony thinks she may have even forgotten that she was speaking to him.

"Ivan was my handler then, he made sure all the best girls were his to train, and I was his number one. I didn't question his orders, or backchat, I just did what needed to be done. He took me under his wing, focused his attentions on me when he had other girls to look after; they didn't like that. I started not to like it too; some parts of the training were harder to accept than others, but I had to get used to it; I had to survive. That's all it was about, in the end: survival.

I never questioned having to kill old, greedy men who had killed or stolen or trafficked girls like me, I believed it was my moral obligation to rid the world of vermin like that. Sometimes I had to let them put their hands on me, use my body for their own means so I could get information out of them, but they always came off worse in the end. But then…it was different. The killings weren't always men, weren't always even adults, and I couldn't understand what was happening, why we were expected to do these things. It felt wrong, but I couldn't stop; I had to follow orders, I didn't know how to do anything else, how to _be_ anything other than what they made me."

Tony's stomach was in knots listening to Natasha's tale; he had deliberately avoided her file because he knew he would not be able to accept what was in it, and he was right. Hearing Natasha recount the horrors in her life was devastating to Tony, he just wanted to scoop her up and promise her that she would never be subjected to anything like that again, but his mouth way so dry he couldn't get a single word out, and his limbs felt too heavy to move.

"When Clint found me, I was already spiralling; I wanted to break away, but I couldn't see a way out. When he came for me, I fought back, but it was just instinct… I held back, didn't try too hard to beat him, let him overpower me. I saw it as a chance to escape, to be free, and to pay for the things I had done. I pleaded with him, begged him, but he wouldn't budge. He took me back, against direct orders…he brought me home."

Tony eventually found his voice, although it sounded hoarse, even to his own ears.

"And Coulson was a part of that home?"

"Yes," she admitted, "a big part. Clint, for a long time, was everything to me – he was the only person in the world I trusted, but he taught me to trust my own instincts and to let my walls down, at least a little. I managed it with Nick and Phil, but I guess neither of them showed me the same courtesy. How could they both trust me so little, after everything I've done for them, and _been through_ with them?"

Tony didn't know how to answer that, his own previous distrust of the redhead weighing heavy in his heart.

When he failed to respond Natasha told him that she was feeling tired and wanted to get some rest. A quick glance was enough to see that she wasn't lying about that; her eyes looked heavy, and there was a definite slump to her shoulders that was never normally present; _I guess re-living your childhood traumas, flying an aircraft, witnessing a resurrection and then having an emotional breakdown all in the same day can really take it out of you. _

"I'll let you get some sleep," Tony said, as he made to get up.

He was surprised when a small hand reached out to stop him.

"Would you mind?" Natasha asked; Tony could hear a mixture of fear, pain and need in her small, quiet voice.

Understanding what Natasha was trying to convey, Tony settled himself back onto the bed, reclining fully so that he was lying flat. Natasha, hesitantly, rested her head against his shoulder and cuddled into him, allowing Tony to wrap his arms around her. He tried, without squeezing too hard, to pour all of his admiration, sorrow and love for her into the embrace; despite their rocky start, and the barriers that had lain between them, Tony desperately wanted Nat to know that he cared about her and that she was safe with him.

Tony lay for a long time with Natasha's story going around in his head; his imagination going into overdrive imaging the terrors she had faced. Even when Natasha's breathing had evened out and she had started to fidget in her sleep and Tony's back had started aching he stayed where he was, determined to let her find some comfort in his presence. He eventually drifted off himself, a long time after the sun set; unconcerned, for once, about alien threats, enhanced humans or the fact that Fury and Coulson were still waiting downstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks again to anyone who has taken the time to read this story. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.

Enjoy :)

* * *

Tony woke up with the bright full moon shining through the window, Natasha's small body was curled in the foetal position at the edge of the bed. Tony eased his arm out from under her shoulder before tiptoeing out of the room. Seeing his own bed still empty, he popped his head into Clint's room; Clint was starfishing across the double bed, whilst Steve lay right on the edge with one leg under the quilt. Tony entered the room to straighten out the duvet to make sure Steve could at least get a little warmth through the night, if not any space. Upon checking on the others, he found Thor and Bruce both lightly snoring with their backs to one another.

After doing his rounds Tony headed downstairs, figuring he could not put off the coming confrontation for much longer.

He found Pepper lounging on the couch with a book in hand, Fury and Coulson were both sitting next to her, being completely ignored and looking more than a little uncomfortable. Tony made a drink for himself and Pepper, not yet in the mood to play host to their other guests. Fury took the snub in his stride, but Coulson looked enviously at the mug Tony was holding; the former playboy took a loud slurp of tea, smacking his lips satisfactorily until Coulson looked away.

Tony sat on the armchair, quietly surveying the other two men, unwilling to be the one to break the uncomfortable silence. Pepper, after a few moments, lay down her book and angled her body to face Fury and Coulson, an expectant look on her face.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr Stark," Fury finally intoned. "Let's get straight down to it, shall we?"

Tony gestured for him to continue.

"Pepper filled me in about our little situation on the phone, now are we sure that what happened this morning is not another one of Loki's tricks?"

"This morning was the result of two enhanced individuals, siblings, from Sokovia. The current theory is that they have been injected with some form of serum which has given them these abilities. We're not sure why exactly they were sent, or why now, but we knew that once news of our little daycare situation got out that we'd be receiving some more unpleasant visits. So, here we are."

"So now you guys are up to speed," Pepper cut in, calmly, "maybe you could shed some light on how _you_ are here?" she looked pointedly at Coulson.

Phil looked to Fury before responding; a tiny inclination of the former director's head giving him permission to reveal their closely guarded secret. Coulson took a deep breath before filling them in on how he had been brought back to life, and why no one had been informed.

Tony could feel anger bubbling up in his chest, his hands clenching and unclenching as he fought to keep his rage under control, not wanting to wake the kids with a shouting match.

"So," he spat, "some random hacker you picked up off the street has clearance to know you're alive, but two people who consider you the closest thing they have to family are just left to mourn you for three years? Am I getting this right, here?"

Tony really wanted to go further, to make the pair aware of just how distraught Natasha was, but he didn't want to betray the redhead's rare confidence in him. Coulson at least had the good grace to look ashamed of himself.

"Nat and Clint have every right to be angry with me," Pepper scoffed loudly at that, "and I will do my best to make things right with them, if they'll allow me to but, right now, I think we have bigger problems to be dealing with".

"Agent Coulson's right," Fury chimed in, "do we have any update on Loki's whereabouts?"

"No, all we know is that he's not on earth".

"Do we know if he's amassed any sort of following?"

"The Asgardians haven't heard anything although, considering they're the ones who let him loose in the first place, I'm disinclined to trust them entirely regarding anything of importance".

"I trust _you_ have a plan to turn them back," Fury gestured at the ceiling. "They're not much use to us in this state".

It was Tony's turn to scoff; _yeah, of course I know how to reverse Norse de-aging magic – piece of cake. _

"Sorry, boss; not my area of expertise. You guys seem to enjoy meddling with alien tech though, so why don't I let you give it a whirl instead?"

Fury and Coulson exchanged exasperated looks.

"How about we focus on these enhanced individuals, track down their cell in Sokovia and eliminate _that_ threat, and maybe that will buy you a little time to fix this mess".

Tony could feel the rage bubbling anew; Fury was making out as though this 'mess' was of their own making. This was not a problem Tony could solve overnight, he wasn't sure if he could even solve it at all. This was an alien trickster god, magic, something way beyond his paygrade.

"And what exactly do you plan to do when you find them?" asked Pepper, concern clear in her voice.

"Like I said, Ms Potts; I will eliminate the threat."

Tony saw Pepper shudder out of the corner of his eye; although he shared most things with his partner, he tried to keep her shielded from the murkier aspects of working with Shield. She was clearly not impressed with Fury's methods.

"That's your go-to plan, isn't it, Nick? Shoot first, ask questions later."

"And how would you proceed, Mr Stark? Invite them round for coffee? Congratulate them on successfully breaking into your tower; a feat you claimed was impossible? Let them practice their skills some more on your teammates?"

Tony suddenly found it difficult to swallow; images of the young Avengers looking worn out, even traumatised, by the visions inflicted on them swam before his eyes. He felt responsible; _they should never have been able to get into the tower_.

"That's what I thought," Fury exclaimed into the silence. "You focus on Loki, leave the rest to us. We have Rhodes and Wilson on stand-by, should the need arise".

Tony finally found his voice.

"I'm modifying some of the suits; making them appropriate for the ki- I mean, for the size they are now."

"Good work. Hopefully they won't be needed."

Fury and Coulson, by some unspoken agreement, rose in sync to take their leave. Tony didn't bother to stand, Natasha's and Clint's distraught faces still swimming around his head. He inclined his head in acknowledgement as they made their departure, Pepper following in their wake, _she probably wants to make sure they really do leave_.

Tony could tell that Pepper was upset for more than just Nat and Clint; she too had considered Coulson -_Phil -_to be a friend of sorts. Upsetting Pepper was another mark against Shield as far as Tony was concerned, and that list was getting mighty long.

Pepper returned ten minutes later, the sound of a helicopter taking off muffled somewhat as she closed the door behind her. Tony took the time to study her appearance; he thought she'd handled their situation remarkably well, but it was clear the stress of the last few days was starting to catch up with her. He could see the bags forming underneath her eyes, and her shoulders were slumped forward with fatigue.

He stood from the armchair and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, he smiled against her mouth as he felt her rest her whole body's weight against him.

"Go get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"I just have some bits I need to check on in the lab – make sure everything is still in working order."

"_Tony_" she warned, her face taking on that stern teacher look that she always got when he was doing something he shouldn't be.

"I won't be long; promise".

Pepper reluctantly headed upstairs alone; Tony knew that, had she been less tired, she would have put up much more of a fight.

Tony headed downstairs, pausing outside Happy's damp basement room he could hear his friend snoring heavily from the other side of the door. Tony flicked a switch hidden at the side of the stairs, a small panel emerged slowly from the wall and lit up. He pressed his thumb to the green screen and waited as the wall next to it moved backwards and then slid out of sight.

Tony headed down the newly revealed staircase into his lab, leaving the entry open in case any of the others wished to join him. All the suits and equipment had been moved from the quinjet into the lab earlier in the day and he was eager to carry on with his modifications. Although he had promised Pepper that he wouldn't be long, he knew in reality that he would be camped out down here until she came to forcefully remove him. He had far too much to do, sleep would have to wait.

He's sure how much time had passed before he had his first major breakthrough; the suits finally appeared to be the correct size for each of the mini Avengers, they would just need to try them on and see if they could manoeuvre and command them sufficiently.

A light knock got his attention, and he turned expecting to find Pepper but was instead greeted by Steve, hair tousled from sleep and wearing Harry Potter pyjamas.

"Pepper asked me to come get you, it's time for breakfast".

Tony's stomach rumbled loudly at the mention of food; he tried to cast his mind back to the last meal he'd eaten, but he came up short. The past few days had been so hectic, and he knows they've all skipped more than a couple of meals.

"I'm pretty much done here anyway – we'll go stuff our faces and then you can all try on your new suits."

"They're finished? Already?" Tony feels pride swell in his chest at the look of awe on Steve's young face.

"They may need to be tweaked once you're in them, but yeah, pretty much finished."

Tony stood up, stretched out his aching body and made towards the door, he was halfway up the stairs before he realised that Steve was not following him. Trudging back down he found the young captain standing, shoulders slumped, where he'd left him.

He placed a gentle hand on Steve's shoulder, careful not to startle him.

"You okay, Champ?"

"Is she alright?" Tony didn't need any clarification on who _she _was, but he did wonder when he had become the information helpdesk for one Natasha Romanoff. Tony sat back down on the workbench and patted the space next to him. Steve ambled over and joined him; despite his downturned head, Tony could still see the blush that had crept over his features.

"You probably know better than I do about all things Natasha," Tony waited for Steve's nod of affirmation before continuing. "She's a tough woman, capable of dealing with anything and everything life throws at her but, this transformation has affected you all more than just physically. Your basic needs and your emotional instincts have reverted back to how they were in your childhood. That means that, not only do you need more rest and care but, you're more likely to react impulsively and find it difficult to hide or control your emotions. If adult Nat, or Clint for that matter, had been confronted with Coulson…it's possible we wouldn't even know they were shocked at seeing him, never mind upset. But as children, they struggle to stop those natural reactions from being so plainly broadcast; Natasha arguably still has better control over herself than the rest of you, but that's likely to do with how her upbringing already was when she was that age". Tony felt a chill slide down his spine, and his hands clenched painfully as the knowledge of Natasha's brutal childhood once again settled in his mind.

Tony watches Steve digest this information, his small hands balled into fists against his pyjama-clad leg.

"She's been through so much, _too much,_" he finally confides, "I don't know if even Clint knows all of it, and he knows her better than anyone. I've seen her be vulnerable before, but this…I don't know how to help her."

Steve turns big, mournful blue eyes to Tony, silently asking for answers that Tony feels woefully unqualified to answer.

"You just need to be there for her, Cap; show her that you care and support her. Nat's a big girl – well, she's a little girl at the moment, but you know what I mean – if she wants to confide in you, she will, and if she wants help, she'll ask. All you can do is let her know that you're there for her if she chooses to do that."

Steve nods again, his face still showing the strain of the past few days. His frown turned into a smile, a genuine smile, when Tony's stomach rumbled once more.

"Breakfast, then?" he asked, standing up and heading for the door. Tony was more than happy to oblige, and the pair headed up together, swapping talk of Natasha for the more jovial topic of delicious breakfast foods.

As the pair entered the kitchen area, they were greeted with all the mini Avengers, and Happy, squabbling over the array of pancakes, poptarts, scrambled eggs and bacon being laid out on the table.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Tony cried out. "Dad gets first pick." He smirked at their disappointed and pouty faces as he reached for a slice of bacon, before another voice dashed his short-lived glee.

"Not so fast, Buster."

"But…them's the rules?"

"Or, maybe the _rule_ is that the person _who made _the breakfast gets first pick?"

Tony slumped dramatically into his chair, feigning outrage at such a suggestion, to the delighted giggles of his teammates.

"Well, I suppose that would seem fair…but Dad gets second pick, right?"

It was Pepper's turn to smirk evilly.

"Once I have mine, I think it's every man or child for themselves."

Tony was not reassured by the sight of greedy little fingers poised over plates, the calculating eyes narrowed in his direction, or Happy's seemingly disinterested face, _that man can move quickly when he wants to. _

Pepper started an agonisingly slow countdown from ten as she moved around the table, carefully choosing her breakfast items. Tony could feel the table practically vibrating as the Avengers impatiently waited for their turn.

"…two…one."

Pepper was smart enough to not actually sit at the table to eat, instead she stood at the kitchen island, gleefully eating bacon and eggs, as she watched the small, messy battle play out before her.

Tony finally sat back in his chair, his plate containing a pitifully small offering of scrambled eggs, bacon and one tattered pancake. He was uncomfortably aware that he had grease marks, and bits of egg smeared into his clothes, his wrist sported a suspicious looking bruise, and there was a tear in the neck of his top.

He glared about at the other members of the team, each were giddily tucking into a bountiful plate of food, including Happy. Thor had managed to snaffle every poptart on the table, and seemed content to eat only them, _I'll maybe have to have a chat with the baby god about healthy living. _Bruce's plate looked as pathetically stocked as Tony's, and the older man could clearly see Bruce's gaze drifting longingly to the other plates.

Tony stood, as gracefully as he could in his now-shabby attire, from the table, scraped his meagre offerings onto Bruce's plate, and then grumpily selected an apple from the untouched fruit bowl next to Pepper. His loving partner deigned to give him a piece of bacon off her own plate, but Tony stubbornly refused the offer – not missing the amused smile playing about her lips. He did, however, steal a quick kiss from her, just to prove that his ire was mainly for show, _as if she didn't know that already. _

"Right, you 'orrible lot," Tony shouted, in his best cockney accent, "you have ten minutes, and then we're testing out the suits."

A few muffled cheers, and one audible groan were his only responses.

"I'm going to run out and get some more supplies; think you can handle them on your own?"

Tony issued an Oscar-worthy sigh, before turning a dazzling smile to Pepper.

"Take your time, Dad's got this."

"Are we really keeping up the whole 'Dad' thing?" she laughed, a sound Tony never got tired of hearing.

"Why not?" he smiled, "I kind of like the sound of it."

The slightly stunned look on Pepper's face, as the meaning of his words sunk in, was enough for Tony. He deftly swiped the bacon that Pepper had previously offered him, before heading upstairs for a quick shower, leaving her gaping after his retreating form.


	8. Chapter 8

**So, this chapter has a little more of a domestic feel, very parental Pepperony, with a small amount of chaos thrown in for good measure. **

**Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this. Reviews are always welcome.**

**Enjoy :)**

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Tony watched as Pepper shepherded the mini Avengers into the lab, all still clad in colourful nightwear. Bruce, hair once again an untidy mop, was wearing black Star Wars pyjamas with Darth Vader emblazoned on the top. Thor's ensemble had the cast of High School Musical leaping across the t-shirt; _does he even know what that is?!_ Steve was still in his Gryffindor colours, and Natasha was adorned in a matching Slytherin set. Clint brought up the rear, still munching on a rasher of bacon and, looking cosy in a giraffe onesie.

Tony felt his heart swell at the sight of them, _not that I will ever admit that to anyone, even under torture, _their sweet little faces sleepy and relaxed after the excitement over breakfast. He had become surprisingly attached to his comrades in their childish forms; he felt he had bonded with some of them much more effectively than he ever had as adults although, that may have partly been due to their newly-found, innocent compulsion to actually share their thoughts and feelings.

"Thought you were going out?" he asked his partner, who threw him a sweet smile.

"Happy offered to go instead so I could stay and help you." He threw his own smile in Pepper's direction, secretly happy to have the chance to show off his genius to the woman he loved.

"Right then," he clapped his hands together, feeling a mixture of excitement and sadness over the course the group was about to take, "who wants to go first?" Five little hands shot into the air, and Tony could see Pepper trying to stifle her laughter out of the corner of his eye.

He closed his eyes, put one hand across them and spun three times on the spot. When he finally stopped, he threw his other hand out in a dramatic gesture.

"You!" he cried out, triumphantly. A chorus of giggles reached his ears and, upon removing his hand from before his eyes, he found his selected target to be…an empty doorway. He turned a mock glare on the giggling children before darting forward, causing them to scatter with squeals of delight. He caught up Clint in his arms, tickling his sides as he threw the chuckling boy over his shoulder.

"Lil robin, it is."

"That's not my naaaame," Clint laughed, his head bumping against Tony's back as he tried to fight off the genius' tickling fingers.

"Well, I can't say I've ever seen a hawk this small, have you?"

Tony instructed Jarvis to rig up Clint's suit as the inventor clipped metal bracelets to Clint's wrists and ankles, having to roll the sleeves and legs of the onesie up to fit them securely to his limbs. He could feel Clint practically vibrating with excitement as he guided him up to the platform where his suit was waiting.

"Once we have you all linked up with your suits, I can program the bracelets to track your movements and with this button –" he gestured to a small nodule protruding from the bracelet on Clint's right wrist, "- you can instruct the suit to knit itself around your body in just a few seconds."

"Will it come when called?" asked Thor, clearly thinking of his affiliation with Mjolnir.

"It will, thank you, Point Break, I was just getting to that part," he smiled at Thor, letting him know he wasn't really bothered that he had beaten him to the punch. "It will work within a ten-mile radius, again, same button; it will come to you in its dormant state then, as it reaches you, it will open up and start to fit itself to your body. Et voila!" He pressed the button on Clint's bracelet as he spoke and stepped back, watching with pride as the suit moulded itself around the archer's small form. As the boy's legs and arms disappeared behind the purple armour, the metal around the limbs elongated until a 6ft metal man stood in Clint's place.

"Awesome!" Tony allowed himself a mental pat on the back at Clint's gleeful tone, which could not be disguised even when distorted by the suit's robotic speaker system.

"Now, raise your right arm," Tony instructed.

Clint dutifully followed Tony's instructions for basic movement for the next fifteen minutes as the genius keyed in codes to his computer system, making sure the tracking alignments were locked in and fully functioning. Tony was pleasantly surprised that Clint was being so obedient and, as a reward, he allowed him to remain in the suit whilst he fitted up the others.

In little more than an hour, Tony was faced with five mobile suits of armour of varying colours. Bruce in green, Thor in gold, Natasha in red, Steve in blue and Clint in his purple. Tony had his own new suit too, although he didn't feel the need to try the silver powerhouse out just yet; he was still adding the final touches to it, but its main purpose would be to override the suits of his comrades, should they start to lose control of them.

"Shall we take them for a test run?" asked the green suit.

Tony glanced about him, scratching his head and making a show of looking confused.

"I thought…I could have sworn that's just what we were doing…"

Tony could practically feel the eyerolls coming from the hidden faces of his teammates, but it was Steve who eventually answered, his face plate retreating and revealing his boyish features.

"Shouldn't we test them…outside. You know, the…the –" Steve threw his hands down, like he was slamming them on a desk; he kept repeating the action over and over, but was met by a wall of silence from his audience. Natasha's tiny face appeared next and, this time, Tony didn't have to imagine the eyeroll.

"He means the thrusters," she stated, quite condescendingly, Tony felt; _how was I supposed to get thrusters from _that?

"Er, maybe we should just take things one step at a time, yeah?" he wasn't keen to let them loose on the world just yet; images of Clint accidentally plunging headfirst into the ocean whilst Thor crashed through the roof of the house were scenarios that had a very plausible chance of becoming reality.

"But, Tony," Clint interjected, "you said yourself, we need to be prepared NOW!"

"Yes, but –"

"And what better way to _be _prepared," stated Thor, with a confident smile adorning his handsome, little face, "than to have a test fight?"

"No, no, absolutely n-"

"Teams or one on one?" Tony did not like the eager gleam in Clint's eye.

"One on one. Winner stays on?"

"_Natasha_, please do not encourage th-"

"I think that's fair."

"Steven!"

"Let's go!"

Tony threw his hands up in despair, as the group clumsily clanked up the stairs and out of sight, before rounding on Pepper, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange.

"Oh, thank you _very much_ for your support there."

"Oh, you think they're really going to listen to me?"

"Well they sure as hell don't listen to me! But a united front might have done the trick."

"Well, they're all ridiculously stubborn – like someone else I know – so I don't think it would have made much of a difference".

"Couldn't you at least have_ tried_? You know, they need to have discipline and order, and where else are they going to learn that than from their par-"

"_Ahem_!"

Tony, cut off mid-flow, turned to find Bruce stood in the doorway of the lab, his solemn face a mixture of embarrassment and resolve.

"Sorry to interrupt," he issued a hesitant smile in Pepper's direction, "but I think you should maybe both get upstairs. Like, now."

Tony could feel the colour draining from his face.

"What have they done? No, don't tell me... Tell me."

"Um…"

A loud, resounding crash echoed down to the lab, followed by numerous, smaller bangs and clatters. Tony took off towards the stairs, almost bowling Bruce over in his haste to get to the source of the commotion.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the living room, arriving just in time to see a blur of gold chase a blue streak outside, straight through the empty space where the floor-to-ceiling window used to be. He stared in horror at the shattered glass littering the floor, the overturned furniture and broken ornaments. A small cheer could be heard coming from outside, amidst the blasts and bangs of Steve and Thor's fight. Pepper and Bruce came up behind him, Pepper's startled gasp almost inaudible under the sound of Bruce's laboured breathing; _kid needs to work on his cardio. _

Before Tony could bring himself to start moving, Pepper had pushed past him, walking straight over the shattered glass, through the window and down to the beach. Tony winced as snatches of her shrill, angry tirade travelled back up to the villa.

"ENOUGH…BACK INSIDE…SUITS _OFF…_CLEAN UP...THE DISREPECT...BARTON, DON'T MAKE ME…SO ANGRY…NO MORE PLAYING…CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD…INSIDE, NOW!"

Tony watched with the tiniest amount of satisfaction as four cowed, sullen children sloped back into the house, each carrying the small, colourful spheres of their dormant suits. These they wordlessly handed over to Tony, before they branched out searching for cleaning supplies. Bruce dismantled his own suit and was about to join the clean-up crew but was stopped by Pepper's gentle hand on his arm.

"Not you," Tony was amazed at the calmness of her tone, as her face was still blanched and pinched with anger. Bruce looked torn between doing as he was told and showing loyalty to his chastised comrades.

"You come with me," Tony offered, "you can help put these away".

Putting away the suits took little more than ten minutes, but Tony saw it as an opportunity to catch up with his quiet science buddy. Upon seeing his dejected face as the sounds of tinkling glass reached their ears, he also felt it was appropriate to reassure the young scientist.

"Hey", he gestured to the ceiling, "none of that was your fault; it would be ridiculously unfair to expect you to help clean up the mess."

"Well, Clint and Natasha didn't cause any mess either, but _they're _being made to help. And…and it was my suggestion to take them for a test run". Tony sighed, running his hands through his hair as he pondered Bruce's logic.

"True, however, _you_ never suggested a fight, nor did you encourage said fight, or cheer the fighters on as they destroyed our beautiful holiday home. Ergo, you are not responsible and shouldn't be held accountable for the actions of your wayward teammates. Comprende?"

"Yes, _Dad_", the pair shared a friendly chuckle, Bruce looking much more carefree than he had in a while.

"So, you're really getting into this whole parent thing then, huh?" he finally asked. Tony was tempted to make a joke, but his fatigue and Bruce's earnest face made him offer up the truth instead.

"In a word – yes. I've never trusted myself with the idea of being a dad; I was convinced I'd make as good a job of it as my own did, and I was worried Pepper might have the same concerns. But, being with you guys like this it's like something has just clicked. As much as I worry about you all, and as much as some things –" his eyes flickered up to the ceiling again "-can really test my patience, I actually find myself enjoying the responsibility. I enjoy spending the quiet moments with each of you, and playing with you all, and seeing you all have fun actually, dare I say it, brings me joy".

He smiled sardonically at Bruce, a little embarrassed at being so honest, but he found Bruce an eager listener who was far from judging him for his vulnerability.

"So, are you and Pepper…?"

"Maybe," Tony raked his hands through his hair, the thought had been pecking at him for a while now and had really started to play as a possibility over the last few days. "I think five might be enough for the time being, though".

The pair shared another chuckle before Tony continued.

"If it does happen, we'll just have to pray he or she is a mini-Pepper; a mini-me would be absolutely horrendous."

"I think you're being a little hard on yourself."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," Bruce's answering smirk would have made Romanoff proud, "a mini-you would only be _mildly_ intolerable."

"Why, you little –" Tony playfully cuffed Bruce over the back of the head, pulling him into a headlock and ruffling his already untidy hair. He finally let up only when Bruce had assured him that he was the most intelligent, handsome, charming person on the planet.

The pair sat back on the workbench, listening to the sounds of brushing and cleaning coming from above.

"For the record," Bruce ventured in a quietly confident voice, "I'd be proud to call you my dad."

He threw a soft smile at Tony, who felt unable to voice his appreciation for the sentiment due to the lump that had inexplicably worked its way up his throat.

"Not as an adult, of course," Bruce hastily added, with a slight blush, "that would just be weird".

"I think that's what the kids might call 'a kink'", Tony finally managed to joke. The pair broke out into fits of laughter before finally settling back down.

Tony draped his arm around Bruce's small shoulders and pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

"I'd be proud to call you a son." He confided, as Bruce rested his head against the older man's shoulder. "My only well-behaved son," Tony issued this last with a dramatic sigh, causing the pair to break into another fit of giggles.

"Having fun?"

Tony glanced up to find Pepper stood leaning against the doorjamb, arms folded, with a tired, amused look on her face.

"Just a little father-son bonding," Tony quipped, earning smiles from both Pepper and Bruce. The latter disentangled himself from Tony's embrace before making his way over to Pepper.

"I'm sorry things got out of hand," he offered up.

Pepper pulled the boy into her arms, and he quickly returned the embrace. She pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head before sending him upstairs to the others.

"Are we sending them to bed with no supper?" Tony asked, only half-jokingly. Pepper scoffed at the idea.

"I think our authority can only extend so far; I'd hate to be the person who came between Thor and his sugar-rush."

"Good point," Tony conceded. "Although, I do think someone – i.e. _you _– needs to have a word with him about maybe introducing some fruit and veg into his diet."

"Hmm, that can maybe be a conversation for another day. I don't think I have the energy right now." As if to prove her point, Pepper allowed Tony to wrap her in a hug, her body sagging against him.

"Is it too early to tell you to get to bed?" Tony asked.

"Well, seeing as it's lunchtime…I'd say probably so." She smirked up at him, before placing a gentle kiss against his mouth. Tony took no time deepening the kiss, revelling in the way Pepper responded to him.

"So," he said, his mouth not leaving hers, "about that baby-making."

Pepper laughed against his mouth before putting some distance between them.

"Easy, Buster," she smiled, "the kids are still awake".

"Ooh, so once they're asleep…" he stole another quick kiss before stepping past his girlfriend, cheekily smacking her backside on the way past.

"Tony!" she laughed as she followed him up the stairs.

"You can't blame me," he threw back over his shoulder.

He made sure to school his face before stepping into the living room, aware that there might still be some downcast little faces in there.

The living room looked almost back to normal, asides from a few missing items that were apparently unsalvageable. There was also a distinct breeze coming from the empty space where the window used to be. Tony knew he could set a few suits up for sentry duty until it was fixed, but there was little he could do about the cold that would creep in through the night.

A noise from the kitchen caught his attention and, upon investigating, he found Steve cutting up vegetables at the table, and Natasha stood on a chair at the stove, stirring something that made Tony's stomach start to rumble.

"Is this allowed?" he asked the room in general. "I'm sure there's some law about children working with fire and sharp utensils."

Natasha shot him a withering glare before seemingly remembering that she was in trouble and dropping her gaze back to the stove.

Tony stepped to her side, trying to get a better look at what she was making. He dropped his arm to his side, just about catching himself from placing his hand against her back to steady her on the chair. He was momentarily unsure whether the intimacy and familiarity she had allowed the previous night had been carried over or whether it was something to never be alluded to again.

He had to wonder for only a moment, however, as she voluntarily whipped a spoon out of the drawer and scooped up a small measure of the sauce she was stirring, holding it out for him to taste. She watched him shrewdly for his reaction, and although he tried earnestly to convince her that it tasted great, she evidently saw clues to the contrary in his face and started barking out instructions to Clint, who Tony had completely missed hovering in the corner of the kitchen, to gather various spices, before turning her attentions to Steve, who apparently wasn't slicing and dicing at a pace that met her approval.

Witnessing the startled looks on both boys' faces, Tony set about making himself useful. Taking over the chopping duties, he freed up Steve to assist Clint in locating the spices and herbs Natasha was impatiently waiting for.

By the time Natasha was satisfied with her concoction, it was actually closer to dinner time, and Tony found himself famished. The past few days of fretting, little sleep and few opportunities for meals had finally caught up with all of them.

Whilst Thor and Bruce set the table, Pepper and Tony conveyed the food from the kitchen. Although they had proven more than capable of safely cooking a meal, Tony drew the line at letting the children carry piping hot dishes around the house.

The group tucked eagerly into the spicy stew that Natasha had made, and Tony didn't miss the sweet blush of pleasure that blossomed over her cheeks as her comrades praised her culinary skills. Despite having shared many meals together, it was very rare any of the Avengers actually prepared a home-cooked meal.

Tony wondered if maybe this would be the start of them learning to work together on more than just fighting skills. Doing normal, fun, domestic activities together might make them a more well-adjusted group, might even make them more attuned to one another.

Tony smiled at his bunch of misfits, as they chatted amiably with each other, joking and teasing like siblings. The strife from earlier seemed mostly forgotten, except at moments when the winds came howling around them, reminding them of the missing glass. At those moments Tony glimpsed the guilty, furtive looks the younger members threw at Pepper and himself, as though waiting to be further reprimanded.

The rest of the evening passed amicably enough, with a film and popcorn before they all retired for the night. Pepper even managed to convince Tony not to spend the night in the lab, but instead to join her in bed at a reasonable hour. Despite Tony's lewd suggestions about what they may get up to, which caused the children to break out in horrified shrieks and wails, both were sound asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillows.


	9. Chapter 9

So, this chapter (and the next) are just domesticated, family fluff. We will get back to Loki in a little while but I just wanted to get some bonding moments out first.

Again, Natasha deserves the world and all of the Avengers deserve a hug.

Thank you to anyone keeping up with this story; reviews are always appreciated.

Enjoy :)

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Tony woke up slowly; it took him a few moments to remember where he was and why he was there. He could feel Pepper's warm body next to his, but his face and arm felt strangely cold. A smattering of rain tapped lightly at the window, but the sound was almost drowned out by the howling wind, which was coming through the large, empty space where his _expensive_ downstairs window used to noise of the wind sounded like a pack of hungry wolves out hunting their next meal; coupled with the cold temperature in the room and the disconcerting feeling that he was being watched it made Tony feel like he was starring in his own thriller movie.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small, dark mass twitch. He tried to steady his breathing, feeling his heart beat a staccato rhythm in his chest, before turning his head fully to the intruder. His momentary panic abated somewhat when his eyes adjusted to the gloom and he was able to make out the tiny form standing in the corner.

"Nat? You okay?"

The little girl didn't answer, although she did move a little closer to the bed, a sliver of moonlight lighting on her pale, frightened face.

"Hey," Tony sat up quickly, his tiredness waning at the first sign of her distress, "come here, Sweetie; it's okay."

Natasha's movements were hesitant at first, but after a few steps she ran to the bed and flung herself into Tony's open arms. Tony pulled her up onto his lap, stroking her tangled hair and whispering soothing words of comfort. He felt Pepper shift slightly behind him and turned to place Natasha on the bed between them. As soon as she touched the mattress, Natasha turned and curled herself into Pepper's chest.

Tony met Pepper's tired, worried gaze over the young girl's head before indicating that he was going to go make some drinks for them. As he tiptoed across the landing he could hear a slight disturbance coming from one of the other bedrooms; on peeking around the door he found all four of the boys huddled together on the bed – Bruce and Thor under the duvet, and Clint and Steve with their own wrapped round their shoulders.

Four little heads whipped around to his as he pushed the door further open.

"Looks like it's hot chocolate all round then?"

Their cherubic faces all lit up at the prospect, and Tony ushered them out of the room and into his own bedroom where Pepper and Natasha were still cuddled up. He was glad to see that Natasha was looking much happier, and she even managed to issue a throaty laugh as Clint divebombed the pair on the bed.

Tony tasked Bruce with helping him to make and carry the drinks, _he's the only one I trust not to break something, _and so the pair headed downstairs into the cold, the sound of childish laughter and squeals following them down to the floor below.

As they passed through the frigid sitting room Tony glanced at the large open space, shuddering at the small pools amassing on his nicely tiled floor where the rain was leaking in. His three iron sentries were still stood outside, impervious to the cold and rain.

Tony and Bruce headed into the kitchen, which was just as cold but, mercifully, dry and set about making the drinks. Bruce, despite the cold and his disturbed sleep, was looking practically chipper -_well, less frowny than usual, anyway. _

"Enjoying yourself there, Big Guy?"

Bruce laughed self-consciously before answering.

"It just takes me back to being a kid - an actual kid, I mean. My cousins and I would sometimes have sleepovers and stay up all night telling ghost stories until someone would come in to tell us off for being too rowdy."

"Literally cannot imagine anyone ever describing you as rowdy, but go on…"

Bruce shot the genius a playful glare before continuing.

"Those were just some of my happiest memories; just being a normal kid, you know? No Hulk, no violence, no responsibility – just a happy kid with his whole life ahead of him."

There's a wistfulness to Bruce's voice that makes Tony wish he could give him that life back. He realises, with little surprise, that he would do just about anything to give his teammates the lives they deserve. He promises them, silently, that if he can't find a way to turn them back, he'll make damned sure that they get to have a happy, normal childhood; no more crime-fighting, no more living in fear of the next big bad. Just five kids, spoilt beyond reasoning, living their best lives.

He's pulled from his musings by the soft tap of bare feet behind him. He turns to find Clint, now in Hawkeye pyjamas – _and they call _me_ a narcissist –_ standing in the doorway, cheeky smile in place.

"Pepper wondered if you'd gotten lost."

"Oh, and you're the most appropriate to send on a rescue mission?" Tony quipped.

"Nah, just the only volunteer."

Tony used the unexpected extra pair of hands to his advantage and instructed Clint to carry up some microwaved popcorn, with strict orders not to eat it all on his way up the stairs; the mischievous glint in the young archer's eye doing nothing to reassure him.

Once everyone was back upstairs and snuggled in the bed, Pepper pressed play on the DVD she'd set up to watch whilst Tony was out of the room. As the opening scenes of Cheaper by the Dozen started playing Tony glanced about him at his little makeshift family.

Bruce lay on the edge of the bed next to Pepper, resting his dark head against the older woman's chest as Pepper played with his untidy hair. Clint lay on Pepper's other side with his back pressed up against her. Despite him chattering away rapidly as they were all getting settled, Clint was asleep within moments of the film starting; Tony reached over and pulled Clint's thumb from his mouth -_don't want him getting into any more bad habits. _

Clint was practically spooning Natasha who was resting her own head on Steve's shoulder. Tony had to stifle his laughter at the sight of Steve's distress. The poor boy was lying ramrod straight, barely breathing, eyes flickering to Natasha every few seconds. Natasha was fidgeting continually, throwing glares at the young super soldier – clearly unimpressed with how little comfort he was providing. After a few prods in his ribs Steve finally seemed to get the message; Tony watched with fascination as the blushing boy self-consciously wrapped his arm around the young redhead and Natasha snuggled gleefully into the space between his neck and shoulder.

As fun as it was for Tony to see Steve so far out of his comfort zone, he didn't want the guy to feel too embarrassed about his current predicament. To help him feel a little more at ease, Tony offered his own services as a pillow to Thor, who was on his other side. He regretted his offer almost instantly as Thor rested half of his body across him, feeling like a dead weight against Tony's chest. The young god was soon laughing raucously at the antics of Steve Martin and co, leaving Tony with a loud ringing in one of his ears. Despite his discomfort, Tony couldn't help laughing along with the happy blonde; Tony felt the pressure in his chest lessen as the night progressed. He could almost forget the troubles they, and the world, were facing as he lay cocooned in the blankets with Pepper by his side, and their pseudo family snuggled around them.

The laughter from the group started to die down as the film was drawing to a close, and as the final credits rolled Tony found himself the only one still awake. Thor was snoring, none too delicately, down his ear, Steve and Natasha were curled into one another, soft smiles adorning their sweet little faces. Clint and Bruce were both cuddled into Pepper, who had an arm around each of them. Tony's heart swelled at the sight of them all.

With the movie having finished, and the wind and rain having died down, the gentle snores and sleepy breaths of his companions eventually soothed Tony off to sleep.

The following morning dawned warm and bright. Tony's arm was dead with having Thor's full weight upon it for the whole night, but he found himself not caring about the inconvenience when greeted with Thor's bright smile when he awoke. The pair carefully manoeuvred themselves from the bed, careful not to wake the three still-sleeping children. Pepper and Bruce had already vacated the room, but Clint, Natasha and Steve were all still sound-asleep. Steve and Natasha did not appear to have moved at all through the night. Clint, however, was star-fishing across half of the bed, mouth open - _is he drooling?! _– one arm flung across Natasha's slender back.

Tony snapped a quick photo on his phone of the three slumbering, and another of Thor pretending to jump on them, before he and the young god padded downstairs in search of the others. The chill of the previous night had abated, and a warm breeze now drifted through the living area. The puddles of water had also disappeared, although Tony couldn't be sure whether that was a natural occurrence or whether someone had been busy cleaning before he awoke.

The pair found Pepper, Bruce and Happy eating scrambled egg on toast at the kitchen table, chatting softly, but happily, amongst themselves. Tony was pleased to see that, despite yet another disrupted night, all three were looking cheerful and well-rested.

Tony served food up for himself and Thor and joined the group for breakfast. He delighted in the amused chuckles of his companions when he passed the pictures round of the trio still snoozing upstairs. He felt a lump form in his throat when Pepper showed him her own snap, of Tony fast asleep with all five of his fellow Avengers snuggled around him looking blissfully at peace.

Tony felt slightly embarrassed as he felt the hot prick of tears behind his eyes, unsure why he was being so emotional over one little picture, but he was saved the shame of his teammates noticing by Pepper, _still always prepared to rescue me when I'm in a fix, _who directed everyone's attention to the plans for the day.

"The window guys will be here around 9.30, the job should only take a few hours, but I think it best if the kids aren't here – we don't want this getting out to the media."

"Good call, but what are we going to do with them?"

"Well," she smiled, a little smugly, Tony thought, "Happy has agreed to wait in whilst the window is repaired, so I have arranged a little day of fun and adventure for us all."

"Oh? Care to share the details?"

Pepper had Bruce and Thor's rapt attention, their young faces breaking out in excited smiles as she continued talking.

"First, we're heading to Beach Bum's to rent some bikes, then we're going to bike the whole island. Around lunchtime we'll stop at Poppo's Taqueria and get some taco's. Then we're going to head up to Bean Point, see what we spot around there, might be lucky and see some dolphins! On the way back we can stop at Joe's and get some ice cream, any flavour you want, and when Happy tells us it's safe we can head back here. I thought we could end the day with a picnic or a BBQ on our beach?"

She ended with a question, suddenly seeming unsure of herself, despite the eager, approving faces looking up at her. Tony thought the day sounded wonderful, and he couldn't wait to get started, but he had one tiny, niggling doubt that he knew he would have to raise.

"Hon, it sounds amazing, but isn't the point of keeping them away from the window guys that no one sees them?"

"I know, I know, but hear me out. The window guys would be looking at you and knowing you are Tony Stark, even if you give a false name. So, when they see the kids it would start to raise questions. But you know no one gives you a second look here, they never have. And I can be the one going in and ordering things or speaking to people. We'll just be another family out enjoying themselves."

Her eyes were a mix of hope and fear, but Tony knew that she was right. They'd been coming here for years and, so far, no one had ever asked for a picture or autograph, never stared a little too hard trying to figure out who he was. The island seemed to live in a protective bubble, so far removed from the battle of New York and every other disturbance the Avengers had been involved in, that Tony wondered whether they'd even heard of Iron Man at all.

He gave Pepper his best reassuring smile before standing from the table.

"I'll wake the others – they'll need breakfast before we leave."

The cheers that followed him up the stairs seemed to have done his job for him, as three confused, sleepy little forms were trudging out of the bedroom as he reached the landing, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

"What's all the n-n-noise about?" asked Clint around a particularly large yawn.

"We were just discussing our plan for the day. To summarise, we're going on an adventure involving bikes, dolphins, tacos, ice cream and a mini beach party."

The trio exchanged gleeful smiles.

"But you need to fuel up first – breakfast is downstairs."

Clint and Steve needed no further encouragement, both took off down the stairs, racing one another to the breakfast table. Natasha remained behind, still not fully awake but looking more content than Tony could ever remember seeing her.

"Shall we, Sleepy Head?" he asked, as he offered her his hand. Unlike when he had made the same gesture, unwittingly, in his lab – _geez, was that really only a few days ago? _– Natasha accepted the proffered hand gladly, and the pair made their way down to the kitchen at a more sedate pace than the boys.

The groups' adventure got off to a slightly bumpy start with Clint and Thor insisting, against everyone's better judgement, that they be allowed to rent a tandem bicycle, Clint receiving a sharp kick to the shin for daring to suggest that Natasha may need training wheels, and Bruce making the startling revelation that he had never actually learned to ride at all.

After much discussion, Pepper and Bruce ended up with a tandem bike themselves, which made Clint and Thor demand one even more. With their somewhat high-pitched pleading drawing too much unwanted attention from passers-by, Pepper caved and allowed them to rent the bike of their choosing. Tony, Steve and Natasha all chose to go it alone and, after suiting up with helmets and knee pads, the group were finally on their way.

Tony could not remember the last time he had gone cycling, but after a few initial wobbles he was speeding down the sidewalk, outstripped only by Natasha and with Steve hot on his heels. The two tandem bikes were trailing behind; Bruce and Pepper were moving cautiously as Pepper guided Bruce through the motions. Clint and Thor, however, were having difficulty working as a team – despite trying for bursts of speed, they were hindered from getting far by Thor's woeful lack of steering skills.

Tony revelled in the sounds of whoops and cheers, _and some curses_, coming from his teammates; the warm sea-breeze and the smell of delicious comfort foods only adding to his sense of enjoyment as the group barrelled past the locals. He caught a few smiles and laughs from passers-by; clearly their merriment was infectious.

When the group finally got to Poppo's, Tony was aching and sweaty. He had pushed himself to the limit trying to keep up with the kids all morning and he was now paying the price. Despite being in good shape for his age, as Iron Man Tony did not have to engage in the strenuous physical training that some of his teammates did which was now leaving him at a disadvantage. Bruce was also looking a little peaky, Pepper having pushed him to work a little harder once he had gotten the hang of cycling. The rest were completely unfazed by the exertion, more than eager to carry on once lunch was over with.

Tony insisted on travelling at a more leisurely pace up to Bean Point, much to Natasha's chagrin and Bruce's delight. The trek was well worth it when Tony and Pepper got to witness the kids' reactions to seeing the downy, white sandy beach for the first time. The beach was empty, most people being unable to find parking in the area, so when they stowed the bikes and went flying across the sand their gleeful whoops and acrobatic stunts went unnoticed.

The kids stripped off to their bathing costumes to paddle in the sea; Pepper had packed a spare t-shirt for Natasha who was still unwilling to be seen in anything more revealing. A little further out the group spied some dolphins jumping and splashing in the water and Tony was quick to capture the looks of wonderment on each of their faces with his phone.

After a little swim, Tony retired back to the shore for a lie down, and he was joined momentarily by Natasha. She deigned to take her wet t-shirt off only to allow Tony to wrap her in a large, fluffy, blue towel. The pair sat side by side, watching the others splashing and giggling in the surf.

There was a soft, caring look on Natasha's face as she watched her companions playing; her big, green eyes sparkled with delight and she didn't even try to hide the smile that was stretching across her face.

Tony watched her pensively, wondering whether she had ever experienced anything like this when she was an actual child, whether she had any positive memories of family or friends. As he sat wondering, the towel slipped slightly down Natasha's back and two silvery, crescent shaped scars were revealed at the side of her shoulder blade.

Natasha's cheerfulness disappeared in an instant when she saw him looking and she hastily brought the towel back up and secured it over her shoulders. Tony was saddened to see her almost curling her body in on itself and a sullen frown settle over her features.

With another child, Tony may have shown off his own scars to make them feel better; he might have told them how the one on his knee was from falling out of a tree when he was seven, and how his father had scolded him for being so careless for a full fortnight. He would definitely have shown off the one on his thumb, which he got when he was building his first ever robot when he was just six. He may even have flashed the one on his hip, which he doesn't even remember getting because he was somewhat inebriated when the incident occurred.

Natasha, however, was not another child. She would not be able to pull up funny childhood anecdotes about the scars littering her tiny body. She would not be able to relate getting into scrapes with her friends or having her parents worry about her when she fell over. Her childhood scars were formed from horrors that Tony cannot bear to think about. The pain etched onto her face is harrowing for Tony to witness, but he knows that his discomfort is nothing in comparison to hers, so he does the only thing he can think of to comfort her; he gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her small body against his side. He pressed a soft kiss to her damp curls, tasting saltwater and sand as he did so.

Natasha relaxed into Tony's embrace and the former playboy revelled in the fact that the girl was now so comfortable with him that she no would longer shy away from physical contact.

"You've got nothing to be ashamed of, Nat." He hadn't meant to speak the words out loud, and he almost regretted saying anything as he felt Natasha stiffen in his arms; but, after a moment, she relaxed against him once more.

"I hate them." Her voice was so low that the breeze almost carried her words away and Tony had to lean his head down to catch what she was saying. "I pretend they don't bother me, that battle scars are something to be proud of, but I hate them all. Every single one is linked back to something horrible, something I would rather forget. I wish I could rip them all away."

Tony doesn't know what to say to her; he doesn't want to offer empty platitudes or tell her that her feelings are invalid in any way, so he only holds her more tightly; and when he feels his t-shirt dampen with her silent tears he scoops her onto his lap and rocks her until she falls asleep curled against his chest.


	10. Chapter 10

The ride to Joe's was quieter than their earlier journey; Tony, having taken pity on Clint, was now in charge of steering a tandem bike and it was taking all of his concentration to work in conjunction with Thor. Pepper and Bruce were enjoying the more leisurely pace this time around, and the other three had not even tried to race one another. It took a little over half an hour to reach their destination, but the trip was well worth it.

Tony was well aware that only the group's sleepiness prevented him from being bankrupted on the spot. They split themselves over a few tables in the colourful dining area, poring over sweet ice cream flavours like Funfetti and Cotton Candy and Nerds; they shared fudge and pretzel sticks and even a couple of banana splits.

It was touch and go on the way back to Beach Bums as to whether the bikes would actually hold them up all the way; what with their overall tiredness and the amount of food they'd eaten it was a small miracle they all made it back in one piece.

The sun was starting to set as the group made their way, on foot, back to the house. Clint was tiredly clinging to Tony's back as Pepper carried a slumbering Natasha in her arms. Steve, Thor and Bruce brought up the rear, dragging their feet and yawning the whole way.

Despite their tiredness and achy limbs, Tony was proud to note that none of the mini Avengers were grumbling or whiny. In fact, the group were all perfectly content and, once back at the house, eager to tell Happy all about their adventures.

Pepper finally managed to tear the suddenly excitable and wide-awake kids away from Happy, who was delightedly listening to their tales, and ushered them upstairs for quick baths. Whilst Pepper had her hands full with the shrieking and mischievous children, Tony and Happy set up the BBQ down on the beach. Tony even had one of his robots mixing up some mocktails for them all to enjoy – _see, I can be responsible –_ and soon enough the smell of sausages and burgers was drifting tantalisingly across the sands.

The first to join the pair was Thor, who was wearing a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pyjamas. Again, Tony had to wonder if Thor had any clue at all about what the pizza-eating reptiles even were. Before he could ask, however, Thor was already tucking into his first cheeseburger; ketchup and mustard running down his chin as he smiled contentedly around the food.

Clint came barrelling out of the house next, eager, as always, to get his hands on some food. Tony's heart swelled a little when he realised that the red pyjamas Clint was wearing had Iron Man emblazoned across the front.

"Nice jim-jams, Kiddo", he said, handing Clint the hot dog he requested.

"Eh," Clint responded, as he _disgustingly _slathered the hot dog in chocolate sauce he'd procured from somewhere, "He's not so bad, for an old man." Clint deftly manoeuvred himself out of reach of Tony as the genius made a playful grab for him.

"You wait, Boy-o," he called after the young archer, who was dancing backwards over the sand to where Thor was sitting, "I'll be coming for ya!"

"Like to see you try, Grandpa!"

Steve's appearance at his side stopped Tony from retaliating_, _which probably saved the older man from a great deal of embarrassment. Tony was tickled to see that Steve was back in the Black Widow t-shirt he'd been wearing when his transformation had first occurred. He'd paired it with some black sweatpants and was looking decidedly emo in the get up. Steve spent a few moments helping to flip the burgers with a childish intensity on his face before deciding on a hot dog. Mercifully, he chose to forgo the chocolate sauce and stuck with ketchup as his chosen condiment.

Bruce ambled down a little later, once the other three were already on their second helpings. Bruce was wearing a fluffy, purple dressing gown over what looked to be blue chequered pyjamas. Judging by his sleepy expression, Tony guessed it wouldn't be long before the young scientist was fast asleep. He gratefully accepted the hamburger Tony offered him before joining his young teammates.

Natasha and Pepper came down the beach together, hand in hand. Nat had Disney Princess pyjamas on and Tony had to wonder whether she was wearing them at her own behest, or because Pepper thought she looked adorable in them – _which she did. _

Natasha was unable to decide between the food choices on offer, so happily accepted both a cheeseburger and a hotdog on her plate. The group spent a good twenty minutes quietly tucking into their food with very little talking taking place. Tony, once he was satisfyingly full of BBQ food, nipped back to the house to collect some throws. These he laid out side by side on the sand, allowing the group to lay down to rest their full tummies.

The stars were beautifully clear in the dark sky from there; with little light pollution to disrupt the view the group were able to enjoy a rare star-gazing experience. After a little while the sound of Happy's diesel-engine snores disrupted the peaceful night, sending the children into fits of giggles and causing Pepper to give the chauffeur a gentle nudge in the ribs. After good-naturedly taking the jibes lobbied at him, Happy retired back to his room to snore in peace. Bruce looked close to following, but instead chose to use Tony as his personal pillow and fell promptly asleep, his own gentle snores much easier to deal with than the racket Happy had been making.

The rest of the kids dropped off to sleep one by one, leaving just Pepper and Tony awake. Tony glanced over the top of Bruce's head at his partner - who was being used as a pillow by both Clint and Natasha - and he marvelled at how he could have gotten so lucky. His thoughts drifted once again to the idea of raising a family with her, of having their own little boy or girl wanting to snuggle up with them and watch the stars shift across the night sky. _Could we really bring a child into this though? _

That was the kicker; the one major hesitation that he always came back to. Tony had the distinct disadvantage of being closely linked to not only the man-made horrors of this world, but also the extra-terrestrial ones. Could they bring an innocent child into the world knowing pain and suffering that was being inflicted by man and alien alike? Could he ask Pepper to have a child with him knowing that he would never be able to hang up his Iron Man suit, that he would be willingly putting his life in danger on a regular basis, potentially leaving his child fatherless at a young age? His own father had put work before his family and Tony had hated him for it; _I never want to be like the old man. _

"Pep," he eventually whispered, not wanting to wake the kids, "do you really think we could have this someday?"

Pepper smiled gently in his direction as she threaded her fingers gently through Natasha's red curls.

"I like to think so, although I'm not sure that now would be the right time to be trying, if I'm being honest. As much as I want to start a family with you, like yesterday, I…I still have reservations."

"Like what?" Tony knows, to a degree, what Pepper's answer will be, but he needs to hear her say the words herself.

"I'm scared of being left to raise a child by myself, of having to explain to my child that their father has been killed by some warrior alien, or god, or just some common thug he felt the need to stand up to. I never want to have that conversation, but I know I can't ask you to give up your work…like I know you'd never ask me to give up mine."

"Well, to be fair to you, your job has a much higher life expectancy, and a better healthcare package attached to it."

Pepper smiled sardonically at him before turning her gaze back to the night sky.

"I want this with you," Tony watched as Pepper hugged Natasha and Clint closer to her. "I want it more than anything…but I need to know that we could be a family. I need us to be a team for as long as possible, and I don't know if that's a feasible dream with the way things are now. And if I asked you to step down from being Iron Man, then we'd be leaving the world a more unsafe place."

"Catch-22".

"Exactly."

"What if we just stayed here…with these kids? Retire from the world and grow old together, raising these little hellions?"

"Sounds perfect," Pepper smiled, "but the hellions in question may think differently".

Tony was about to respond when a loud _**crack **_was reverberated across the sky. Tony's attention was immediately engaged as the skies momentarily lit up with a green hue.

"No!" he breathed out, as a dark shape appeared above the water. Lights flared out from strangely shaped aircraft and travelled across the still waters and up the sandy beach before lighting upon the group lying huddled on the blankets.

The young Avengers blinked awake, groggily sitting up and rubbing their eyes against the harsh light. Tony struggled to his feet, putting his body in front of the children and Pepper as the spacecraft hovered a little further down the beach. After a few moments where the craft just hung ominously in the air, moments that Tony spent trying to push the clamouring Avengers behind him, before a ramp descended from the base of the ship.

Four armoured figures walked purposefully down the ramp to the beach. Tony recognised the leader of the group as Lady Sif, the fierce warrior who had always shown the greatest loyalty to Thor. Her three companions were male and, although Tony had never met them before, he felt as though he recognised them from Thor's tales of the Warriors Three.

Tony felt a momentary swell of relief in his chest as the quartet strode towards them, barely affected by the soft sand beneath their feet. His relief was short lived, however, as he realised that Thor, who should have been thrilled at the arrival of his loyal followers, appeared strained and almost on the verge of tears.

"Buddy…" Tony tried to reach for the young god, but his hand was shoved away unceremoniously as Thor stomped to the front of the group, planting his feet squarely in the sand and bringing his fists up unto a fighting stance.

"That bastard!" The venom in Thor's tone took everyone by surprise. The blonde rarely cursed, and almost never lost his temper. Tony did not have to wonder long about the cause of his upset.

The Asgardian warriors stopped a few metres away from the Avengers, backs ramrod straight, capes and long hair blowing in the slight breeze. Tony, on another day, might have made a joke about their appearance if not for one aspect of their appearance that froze Tony's voice in his throat.

All four of Thor's companions stared silently at the group; their eyes were a pale, glassy blue and their skin had a sallow, sweaty sheen. Tony felt every member of his team tense up as the realisation of what they were facing dawned on them. The sound of tramping boots shifted Tony's attention from the zombie-like warriors to the ramp they had recently descended; a group of twenty or so warriors were marching down to the beach. Although Tony could not see clearly from where he was standing, he would bet his last dollar that each and every one of them had the same sickly pallor and glazed expression.

_That bastard, indeed. _


	11. Chapter 11

Just a short update this time. Thank you to anyone still following this story.

Enjoy :)

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The two groups stood observing one another; the Avengers faces were a mixture of confusion and apprehension, whilst the Asgardians were stoic and stony-faced. Their blank gazes flickered disinterestedly over the young team before them but they made no further movements. Tony cautiously moved in front of Thor, who was white with anger at his brothers' manipulation of his brave followers.

At the first sign of movement the Asgardians turned their heads in Tony's direction. Their movements were unnervingly uniform and Tony could feel his heart rate picking up as the collective group of blue eyes were trained in his direction. He surreptitiously glanced sideways at the kids, trying to ascertain whether or not they were wearing their suit bracelets. He could see all but Bruce's – the dressing gown sleeves too long to reveal whether or not he had it on.

"Nice of you to drop by, guys. Can I interest anyone in a beverage or a light snack?" the levity Tony tried to inject into his words fell flat, and the only response he received was a slow, considered step forward by the Lady Sif. Tony tried desperately to signal behind his back for the Avengers to activate their suits, and he could only hope that Pepper had the good sense to slip back into the house whilst he kept the Asgardians occupied.

A clanking sound from the house indicated that the Avengers had received his message, _or maybe just used their own initiatives,_ but Tony was unwilling to tear his gaze from the hypnotised warriors before him in case they attacked without warning. Tony only had a few moments to panic about the lack of training the kids had had with their suits, before he was surrounded by five tall, metal Avengers. He chanced a quick glance behind him, as the Asgardians were still yet to make a move, and was relieved to note that Pepper was nowhere in sight.

After what felt like an age, the dark-haired warrior next to the Lady Sif stepped forward, eyes trained on Tony; his milky gaze making the seasoned Avenger squirm uncomfortably in his suit.

"Warriors of Midgard," he boomed in a flat, emotionless voice, "Loki, rightful ruler of Asgard, orders your immediate surrender. Lay down your arms and come with us now, of your own volition, and you will be treated respect and dignity, and Midgard will be kept safe under Loki's merciful and just rule."

A scoff from the blue suit to Tony's left informed him, to no surprise, that Steve would certainly not be going anywhere without a fight.

"Failure to comply with this most reasonable of orders," Hogun continued, either ignoring Steve's derision, or oblivious to it, "will force us to treat you all as hostile aggressors and you will be dealt with accordingly. Please choose wisely."

Hogun stepped back into line and the Asgardians waited patiently, as though expecting the Avengers to have a serious discussion between themselves about which option to choose, _as though there was even a choice to be made._

"We don't want to hurt you," piped up Natasha's distorted voice from somewhere behind Tony, "but we will."

"This is your final answer?" asked Sif, with none of the regard or warmth that her voice had contained just a few days before.

"It is, Ma'am," Steve answered for the group.

The Asgardians moved as one, with no warning. The speed at which they advanced was alarming and Tony barely had chance to propel himself out of the way of the advancing troop. He heard Steve barking orders to the other Avengers and Tony easily complied with his directives; he just hoped the others would cope with instructions as well as they tried to manoeuvre themselves in their unfamiliar suits.

Tony positioned himself at the back of the advancing warriors and was momentarily joined by Bruce, their mission was to distract and disable the rear guard. He could see Clint hovering unsteadily above the crowd, an arrow prepped to disengage from his armour and fire at the horde below.

"A hard blow to the head might be our best shot at bringing them back to their senses; it worked with Clint," said Natasha over their shared comms.

"Clint may have been easy picking compared to these guys; they're like machines," said Bruce.

"Hey!" protested Clint, his arm steady and poised even as he fought to keep his balance in the sky. "I almost bested her; my natural chivalry clearly just won out."

Natasha's snort of derision was echoed by a number of her teammates, but the group had no time to further mock the archer as they became overwhelmed with the fighting skills of their foe.

Tony had a hard time keeping track of his teammates as he was surrounded by five muscled warriors. He was trying to land sufficient blows to incapacitate them without causing any serious harm, but the hypnotised Asgardians had no qualms about the damage they were causing.

_Sir, significant damage sustained to blaster circuits._

"How are the others faring, Jarvis?" Tony was little concerned with his own suit; he had enough gadgets and failsafe's that the blasters being impeded would make little difference to his overall chance of success. The others, however, had more basic suit models and the only real gadgets they were equipped with were related to their usual weapons of choice; if any of those failed then their only method of defence would be to fly out of reach of their attackers.

_Mr Barton's suit is fully functioning and he seems his usual self._

"Not sure whether that's a good thing or not," quipped Tony.

"I heard that," came Clint's gruff response.

_Dr Banner is mostly functional, although his face plate has received some damage and his inner capacity is pushed to the limit. _

This report, coupled with the animalistic grunts coming over the comms informed Tony that Dr Banner was no longer the one in control of the green suit smashing bodies left and right.

_Mr Rogers and Miss Romanoff are both fully functioning._

"And?" Tony pressed, when Jarvis seemed disinclined to provide any further information.

_Unfortunately, Sir, Mr Odinson is no longer online and I am unable to get any readings on him._

Tony felt his heart stutter in his chest as his mind raced through every possibility of why Thor would be offline.

"Anyone got eyes on Thor? Clint, can you see him?"

"Negative, " Clint's brusque response was indicative of his concern for his teammate.

"I see him," Natasha sounded breathless as she answered. "Tony, he's taken his suit off."

"Is he okay? I don't see him," said Steve.

"He's holding his own…he seems pretty pissed."

"Keep an eye on him, Red. I'm on my way."

Tony activated his thrusters and blasted into the air. From his vantage point he had a good view of the whole mêlée; he could see that a number of Asgardians were laying dazed or unconscious around the beachfront, but at least 15 were still worryingly active. At first he couldn't see Thor, him being so much smaller than everyone else on the field, but flashes of lightning quickly pinpointed him in between Lady Sif and the Warriors Three.

The mini-god was handling himself pretty well but Tony could see, even from a distance that his body was tiring in a way it would not have done as an adult. His movements were becoming sluggish and the Asgardians were landing more hits than was comfortable for Tony.

Tony shot straight at the small group, landing on top of the dark-haired guy who had spoken earlier. His sudden appearance halted the skirmish and allowed Thor a small reprieve from getting his ass kicked. The warrior below him tried to stand up so Tony smacked a heavy, metal fist against his temple and he fell back to the ground, unconscious.

"You okay, Bud?" Thor seemed barely to register Tony's question, his small fists still balled up ready to jump back into the fight. "Just take it easy, okay? We got this."

Tony tried to shield Thor as much as possible as the fight resumed, but the angry god was not to be hindered. Lightening flashed alarming closely to Tony's suit, and it was with great difficulty that he was able to disable one of his opponents successfully, with the bright flashes constantly obscuring his vision.

With the heat of the battle dying down, and only a few Asgardians still standing, Tony gave himself a small breather to check up on the other Avengers; _I know, I know – rookie mistake. _

Tony was knocked across the beach by what felt like a small boulder hitting him in the back of the head and shoulders. He landed spread-eagled in the cold sand seeing bright flashes in front of his eyes. Tony could feel the hard metal of his suit digging into his skull and the top of his spine, meaning that whatever had hit him had used enough force to topple a small building.

The startled billionaire gingerly tried to get to his feet but a heavy weight suddenly pummelled onto his back, forcing him further down into the sand. His face plate started to rise, allowing the dry, cold sand to seep inside, filling his mouth and eyes. Worryingly, the tide was not far behind and Tony could not work out which would be worse; drowning, or choking to death – _hmm, tough choice._

_Sir…I-I-systems dama…_

Tony's mouth was too full of the beach to attempt a response to the AI. His chest had tightened uncomfortably with the assault and the lack of air getting into his system made his head feel like it was going to explode. He tried desperately to engage any of his suit's defensive or attacking mechanisms, but nothing was working and Tony was in a desperate panic.

He could not remember a time when his suit had failed him so drastically, or when his genius could not get him out of any sticky situation. Now, however, his suit had given up the ghost and he felt himself close to following, as his brains only remaining function seemed to be extreme panic.

He could dimly hear shouts over the pounding of blood in his ears, whether from friend or foe he couldn't be sure. The heavy weight on his back seemed to be lessening and increasing periodically but Tony could feel no relief as his senses were completely overwhelmed by his inability to breathe.

Tony took a last, sand-filled breath, choking on the gritty powder before his vision failed him completely and he could think and feel no more.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is a bit of a filler chapter so not a lot of action. **

**Thank you to everyone still keeping up with this story. Reviews are always appreciated.**

**Enjoy :)**

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The room was uncomfortably bright when Tony awoke; his head was throbbing painfully, and his throat felt as though he had swallowed a sawmill. Although his breathing had eased slightly, Tony still felt as though a heavy weight was sitting on his chest. Tony struggled to keep his eyes open against the bright sunlight. He tried to sit himself up further in the bed, but a gentle pressure pushed him back down against the pillows.

"Hey, hey," a soft voice whispered to him, "take it easy."

He tried hard to bring Pepper's face into focus, but his vision was weak and blurred.

"Just rest, Tony; you're okay." Tony wanted desperately to convey to Pepper that his own wellbeing was of no concern to him; he wanted to know how his teammates had fared in the fight against the Asgardians, but his throat could produce nothing more than gurgling sounds. He slumped back against the pillows in frustration but, thankfully, Pepper was quick to answer his unasked questions.

"They're okay, Tony," she confirmed as she softly carded her fingers through his hair. "The Asgardians have all returned to themselves and they have returned to Asgard to confront Loki. Thor wanted to go with them, but the kids managed to convince him he would be more help here."

Small noises from the rest of the house started to filter through to Tony's consciousness and he was gladdened to hear the sounds of small feet wandering up and down the stairs. His vision was finally starting to clear and Pepper's beautiful, kind face was a welcome sight to behold.

"Everyone came out with just a few minor scrapes and bruises; no major damage. You were the biggest casualty," she offered him a sympathetic smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Tony tried again to get his vocal cords working, but his throat was still painfully constricted. Pepper fetched him a small glass of water and helped him to prop himself up to take a drink. Swallowing was unreasonably painful, but the cool liquid sliding down his parched throat was pure bliss.

"Bruce…Bruce feels so guilty about what happened," Pepper was searching Tony's face for any sign of recognition about the events of the previous evening, but Tony had no idea what his science buddy could possibly have to feel guilty about. He tried to convey this to Pepper with a small shrug of the shoulders and a shake of his head, thankfully his partner was very good at reading people, _particularly me. _

"He, um," Pepper, for once, seemed to be struggling to find the right words to explain. "It was…well, it was Bruce that attacked you. Well, the Hulk, to be more specific."

Tony was thunderstruck by Pepper's revelation; even if he were able to speak, he imagined he would still have been struck dumb by the news. He struggled into a sitting position and gestured frantically for Pepper to explain more to him.

"In the midst of the fighting the Hulk took over completely," Pepper's voice was calm as she explained, but Tony could still see the worry in the crease of her forehead and the tense set of her shoulders. "At first, he was still battling the Asgardians and then…well, then I don't really know. According to Clint, one minute he was on one side of the beach, and the next he was behind you and … and he just lashed out. The kids tried everything to get him off you, but they were still fighting some of the other warriors too. By the time they managed to get him away you were already unconscious and had swallowed half of the beach."

Tony's head ached painfully as he tried to take in this information. Although there had been a few near-misses over the years, the Hulk's rage had never been unleashed in such a near-fatal torrent against one of his own teammates before. Although he would never admit it out loud, it stung Tony that it was him who had been the one to feel the full force of the green behemoth's anger when he and Bruce were so close.

Pepper allowed him a few moments to process the news, but he could tell by the pinched expression of her face that she had more to say, and not all of it was going to be pleasant for Tony to hear.

"After the Asgardians were all deactivated, or whatever you want to call it," she eventually continued, "they were able to fill us in a little on what Loki has been up to."

Tony's ears pricked up at this; _that little bastard is in for one hell of an ass whooping. _Pepper took a deep breath, clearly trying to maintain a calm demeanour so as not to rile up her invalided partner.

"A few days ago, a couple of days after Loki's disappearance, the Asgardians started to notice that Odin, Thor's father, was behaving strangely. He seemed little concerned with locating his wayward son, and even less concerned that his other son had been turned into a pre-teen. Apparently, this was a big contrast to how he had been when everything first happened.

People naturally started asking questions about his behaviour, but with all of the searching for Loki still happening, it didn't seem to be a high priority. Anyway, yesterday Frigga, Thor's mum, approached Sif with her concerns that Odin was in fact Loki in disguise –"

Tony heard himself gasp in surprise; he was one chest clasp and a faint away from a leading role in a daytime TV soap opera.

"- and that she was worried about Loki's intentions. Sif and the Warriors Three confronted the imposter and…none of them remember much after that. They were deeply ashamed at having been manipulated so easily, and for their part in you getting injured."

"W-d-w-" Tony slumped back on the pillows in frustration at his inability to form even the simplest of words. Pepper gave him a sympathetic smile and cupped his cheek in her hand; her skin felt blissfully cool against Tony's hot, feverish skin and he leaned into her touch revelling in the comfort she so easily provided, even as his mind was still whirring with unanswered questions.

"Rest now," she instructed kindly. "I don't think the Asgardians will be taken down so easily a second time, and there's nothing any of us can do for the time being."

Tony wanted to protest, to keep her talking, but even as he lifted his hand in a half-hearted gesture of retaining her company, he could feel his eyelids getting heavy and his brain slowly powering down.

A few hours later, Tony awoke once more but this time, mercifully, the room was dim with only the cool, grey light of the evening filtering through the open curtains. Tony slowly manoeuvred himself to the edge of the bed, every movement of his arms, legs and neck sending shooting pains through his whole body. He gritted his teeth against the pain and gingerly stood from the bed, every muscle in his body protesting at the movement.

Tony felt ridiculously like an old, frail man as he hobbled his way across the room, whimpering piteously with each step, before he emerged, blinking like a new-born kitten, into the bright hallway. The sight of the staircase, looking steep and foreboding in his current state, made him feel physically ill.

"Pep?" he tried to call out, but his voice was weak and croaky; _at least I can form words now, though. _

He tried a few more times before he heard the soft patter of tiny feet coming up the stairs. Natasha's tousled red hair and startling green eyes were a welcome sight to Tony, who was starting to think he might waste away at the top of the stairs waiting for someone to hear him.

Natasha tried hard to keep her face impassive, but Tony was touched to see that she was clearly relieved to find him up and about.

"Back to bed," she instructed, her voice firm but kind. "You need to rest."

"I can rest when I'm dead," he wheezed, wincing at the effort it took just to say those few words.

Natasha rewarded him with her trademark smirk, before pointing him back in the direction of his room.

"Can I at least go for a tinkle first?" he asked, only half-jokingly. Natasha kindly assented and assured him that some soup was being made for his dinner and that it would be ready shortly.

When Tony finally got back into bed he felt as though he'd gone five rounds with Mike Tyson. Every inch of his body ached, and his forehead and back were coated in a slick sheen of sweat.

A gentle, hesitant knock at the door alerted him to the presence of one of his teammates. Before they even entered Tony knew who his visitor was.

"Come in, Bruce," he called out, as best he could with his still hoarse throat.

Bruce's dark, unkempt hair looked even more untidy than usual and his eyes, when they eventually met Tony's were full of guilt and worry.

"Come here, Kiddo," Tony invited him, feeling saddened that his young friend was blaming himself for something outside of his control. Bruce shuffled over to the bed, pulling his grey sleeves over his hands and fidgeting constantly. When he got close enough, Tony pulled on one of his hands and gently tugged him onto the bed next to him.

Bruce was still holding himself awkwardly at the edge of the bed, so Tony pulled him against his chest in a tight hug. He smiled as he felt Bruce relaxed into his hold, but his joy quickly turned to sadness as he felt Bruce's tears start to soak into his t-shirt. There was no need for Tony to ask why the boy was upset, his job now was merely to comfort him and convince him that he was not to blame.

"Hey, hey," he pulled Bruce away from his chest, framing his blotchy, tear-stained face between his hands. "Look at me, Bruce. This is not on you, you hear me? This is a risk we take because you are an invaluable member of this team. That is our decision to make, it's one we will continue to make. This is not your fault."

Bruce was hiccupping through his sobs, trying desperately to stem the flow of his tears by dashing at his face with his sleeve-covered hands. Tony helped him out, using his thumbs to brush away the still-falling tears.

"I-I-I'm so-so-so so-sorry, T-Tony!" The boy threw himself back at Tony, causing the older man to fall back against the pillows with a grunt. He would never tell Bruce that his desperate clawing at his shoulders was causing him discomfort, it would only make the young scientist feel further guilt. Instead, Tony grit his teeth against the pain and rocked Bruce in his arms until the boy's sobs petered out and his breathing became more even.

A soft, raspy snore told Tony that Bruce had fallen asleep. Tony tried to manoeuvre the boy off his lap and onto the bed, but his sleepy weight was too much for the injured genius and he was about to give up when the smell of chicken soup wafted into the room, followed by Natasha balancing a laden tray in her tiny hands. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she tried to will her small body not to drop the heavy tray.

On seeing Tony's predicament Nat offered him a small smirk before depositing her tray on his bedside table. She vaulted onto the bed and, seemingly effortlessly, helped roll Bruce onto the other side of the bed.

Nat sat cross-legged at the end of the bed, watching to make sure Tony ate every last bit of his chicken soup. Tony slurped the food down noisily, hoping to discourage Nat's scrutiny, but the spy's immense level of patience meant she quite easily tuned out the noise and continued her vigilance with ease.

When he finally finished his food, Tony was expecting Nat to scarper, her task accomplished. Instead Nat continued to carefully watch his face; Tony was getting fidgety under her intense stare.

"Something else you need, Red?" Natasha tilted her head to the side, reminding Tony of a confused little kitten – _not that I would EVER tell her that; despite evidence to the contrary, I do value my continued existence. _Natasha pondered a few moments more before answering him.

"There's been a development."

Tony sat up straight, ignoring the pain shooting across his back at the sudden movement.

"Fury called…they have captured the two enhanced individuals."

Tony felt his body sag, feeling almost frustrated that the news was not regarding Loki, who he was holding personally responsible for every ounce of pain he was feeling.

"Wait," Tony said, after the news had penetrated past his initial disappointment, "you said captured? Not…killed?"

Natasha smirked again, but Tony did not think he was mistaken when he believed he saw her eyes sparkling with something akin to pleasure.

"Captured, that's right. Apparently, Nick's conscious was long overdue an excursion." Tony barked out a laugh. He felt sufficiently shocked and happy that Fury had chosen a more merciful route with the siblings. Although, if he thought too long about it, he worried a little about what the consequences of being captured by Shield might entail.

"Where are they being held? What will happen to them?" He finally managed to ask.

"Currently on a Shield-issue flying bus…apparently," Natasha quirked an eyebrow at the genius, clearly conveying her scepticism about the reliability of that information. "They'll be taken to a secure, underwater prison called The Raft where…well, they'll be interrogated. Maybe some tests will be conducted."

Tony did not like the sound of that.

"Where is this prison?" he asked. Natasha shrugged one little shoulder, but he had a feeling she knew more that she was letting on.

"That's classified," she stated. "Only those with sufficient clearance know the location and how to access it."

"What's your clearance level again?" he inquired.

"Oh, that information is way, way above my paygrade, Shell Head." This time Tony answered her knowing smirk with one of his own.

"How quickly can you get the quinjet ready?"

Natasha rolled backwards off the bed, spun on her heel and was exiting the room before Tony had even finished asking the question.

"Give me ten minutes."


	13. Chapter 13

**So, it's been quite a while since I managed to update any of my stories - apologies for that! This chapter took a slightly different turn to what I originally intended - I hope it turned out okay!**

**Thank you to anyone who takes the time to continue reading this. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.**

**Hope you're all taking care of yourselves.**

**Enjoy :)**

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The quinjet was a buzz of activity after Tony had finished briefing the other Avengers on their plan of action. He left them excitedly gearing up and went to join Natasha who was, once again, expertly manning the aircraft.

"You gonna fill me in yet on where exactly we're going?" They were currently flying over a vast expanse of ocean and Tony could see nothing else but the choppy water and steely grey sky. "Is this like Azkaban or something?"

Natasha threw him a quick smirk of appreciation.

"I didn't know you could read." She ducked deftly as Tony took a playful swipe at her head.

"Don't give cheek to your elders."

"The Raft is completely submerged in the Atlantic Ocean. In order to be granted access to it you have to be able to, firstly, approach from the correct direction and send out your approach signal from exactly 365 metres away. Then you have to provide a password."

"Okaaaay…and we know the password, yeah?"

"Not exactly," Natasha tapped the headset she was wearing, "I hacked into their radio system as soon as we left; unfortunately no one has entered just yet but if my calculations are correct, which they usually are, this flying bus or whatever it is should be arriving about an hour before us."

"And we're sure the password won't change within that time? Or they won't want us to state specific expected business before they let us land?"

"The password only changes every six months and they assume everyone who finds the place and passes that test has a right to be there; I guess when you're near impossible to find and unknown to 99% of the world's population you get a little lax with security measures."

"And what happens, _oh wise one, _if we get there before this bus does?"

Natasha's nonchalant shrug was typical of the redhead's approach to missions, as far as Tony had witnessed; her and Barton had been left stranded many times when missions had gone south, but they had always managed to claw together a victory and successful escape plan.

"We'll loop round a few times; we've got enough fuel to last us, but I'd rather not be flagged on their radar before we intend to approach. If there is no sign of the bus by 14:00 then we'll call it a day and try again when we have further intel."

"You know, you're pretty smart for a kid; how would you feel if I recruited you into my Stark Industries Academy for Bright Young Minds?"

"Do I get to shoot people?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then I'm not interested."

"Noted." Tony left the young assassin with a friendly pat on the shoulder, before heading back to join their other comrades.

Whilst Thor, Clint and Steve were exchanging tactics on the best way to take down an enhanced individual whose speed made them almost invisible, Bruce had removed himself from the group and was sitting morosely in the far corner of the jet. Tony approached him cautiously, not wanting to disturb the young scientist if he wanted some time alone. When Bruce glanced up and offered him a small, watery smile Tony took that as an indication that it was okay to approach.

"You okay, big guy?"

Bruce gave a half-hearted shrug but offered Tony a small smile, which he took as a good sign that it was safe to sit down with his young friend.

Tony nudged the young scientist with his shoulder.

"I'm going to say something now that is so _insanely_ profound and astounding that you'll probably want to write it down for posterity's sake…"

Bruce glanced up at the dark-haired billionaire curiously, wondering what could possibly be about to come out of Tony's mouth.

"…what happened back there, was not your fault."

Bruce rolled his eyes and turned his face away, but not before Tony saw the youngster trying to fight off a smile.

"Listen, bud," Tony continued, wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Remember how I told you guys that your transformation had somehow caused a slight regression in your ability to control your emotions and how you expressed them?" Tony waited for Bruce's nod of affirmation before continuing. "And do you remember the remarkable discovery you had many moons ago that the Hulk's appearance was directly linked to your outbursts of anger?" Again, he waited for Bruce's confirmation before he went on to his next point. "Well, if your transformation into a pre-teen causes you to lose control of your emotions and causes you to react more impulsively than as an adult, it's really quite miraculous that we've only had two minor incidents, don't you think?"

Bruce did not look as happy or relieved by Tony's revelation as the philanthropist would like: _tough crowd._

"I'd hardly call trying to kill you a 'minor incident', Tony." Tony was about to issue a witty rebuttal but was brought up short when he noticed silent tears rolling down Bruce's face. The boy did not try to hide his face or move away from his friend as he was pulled into a strong-armed hug.

"That was not you, do you hear me?"

"B-but it i-is," Bruce sobbed against Tony's chest, "they're b-both m-me, c-can't you s-s-see that?"

Tony was at a loss for words, _yes, I know; miracles do happen. _He was unsure how he could reassure his friend when the boy was actually speaking the truth. Both Bruce and the Hulk, no matter how the former tried to fight against it, were one and the same; two sides of a coin. Tony knew that trying to convince Bruce otherwise would be futile, but he also knew that he could not allow him to blame himself for something so far outside of his own control.

As Tony cast about for the right words to soothe the boy beside him he was relieved to note that the other guys had had the sensitivity and good sense to subtly move themselves to the front of the aircraft to give Bruce and Tony some privacy.

"Listen, bud, everyone has their demons. For some, it's an addiction they can't kick, for others it's daddy issues that manifest into some questionable behaviour. For you – well, for you it's a literal green rage-monster who sometimes gets the better of you. But the fact that you have a handle on that and can, for the most part, control it is beyond amazing to me."

"It's not good enough though, is it?" Bruce sounded defeated as he rebutted Tony's praise. "It's my own stupid fault the Hulk exists in the first place, so every 'minor incident', every injury or death that happens because of him, is really because of me. That's a debt I can never repay."

Tony sighed heavily, knowing there was little he could say to argue against that logic. He knew, if the roles were reversed, he'd feel exactly the same. His own guilt over the weapons that had been made in his name, and the damage they had ultimately caused, was something he knew he would never be able to escape. For Bruce to live with the weapon that _he _had inadvertently created, literally waiting every second of the day for it to burst out and wreak havoc once more, must be completely soul-destroying.

Before he could say anything further, the craft banked sharply to the left causing both Bruce and Tony to jar into one another painfully. Just as they managed to get their balance back, the jet then banked just as sharply to the right.

"Hey Red, do we need to revoke your licence?" Tony called out as he struggled to his feet. Only then, however, did he realise the reason for Natasha's erratic flying or, rather, non-Natasha's erratic flying: the young redhead was not manning the craft at all, instead Thor had taken charge of the quinjet and, for all his godly powers and brilliance in battle, it turned out that piloting a human aircraft was not one of his many skills.

As Tony struggled to reach the front of the jet, he was glad to see Clint scramble to the pilot's seat and shove the small god out of the way. Thor seemed only too happy to give up the reins to someone else and Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the jet levelled out and continued on a smoother course.

His relief, however, was short-lived as Thor's anxious stare alerted him to a more pressing problem. He followed the gaze of the young god and his eyes lighted on the prone form of Natasha stretched out on the floor. Steve was crouched over her tiny body, with both of his hands pressed against her stomach. Blood was starting to seep through his fingers, and he threw a helpless look to Tony, silently begging for his help.

The billionaire finally managed to get his limbs moving and joined Steve at Natasha's side, adding the pressure of his own hands on top of the captain's.

"What in the hell happened?" he questioned hoarsely, amidst shouting orders to Jarvis to ready the small medi-lab that was on board.

Steve shook his head mutely, his pale lips trying to mouth words that he couldn't seem to speak out loud. Instead he jerked his head in the direction of the cockpit and Tony frantically searched the area with his eyes until they alighted on a clear problem.

Near the top of the glass was a small hole, about the size of a bullet.

"Who?" was all Tony could say.

"Shield," came Clint's angry, clipped retort. "Fighter jet. They knew we were coming."

Tony felt the air expel painfully from his lungs. Shield had done this. Shield had wilfully shot one of their best and most loyal agents just to stop them reaching the Raft and interfering with their experiments.

Tony had mistrusted the agency for some time, _basically forever, _but he had not thought them capable of this. The Shield they knew had been disbanded in the wake of Steve and Natasha's discovery of the Hydra agents working in their midst. Those that were left, who had started to rebuild the organisation, were supposed to be the good guys. _Clearly, this lot have not got the memo._

"Can we outfly them?" Tony directed the question to Clint, who seemed to be the only one capable of any form of speech at the moment.

"If not," he huffed, "we can certainly outgun them."

Tony hoped that course of action would not be necessary; he knew in reality that, if pushed, Shield would have more than enough ammo and resources on their side to overpower the Avengers in their current state. What worried Tony more at the moment was that Natasha's small body was completely limp in his arms as he picked her up. He rushed quickly to the medi-lab and lay her out on the table. He cut quickly at her plain, dark top which was soaked with blood, exposing her pale, skin beneath. He tried to ignore the other scars that frequented her stomach and focused his attention solely on the fresh wound that was still bleeding profusely. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he instructed Jarvis to bring up any videos that would help him perform minor surgery on the youngster.

Steve had joined him in the lab and, despite his pale, stricken face, he proved himself to be a capable surgeon. Tony knew from past conversations that Steve's skills had developed during his time in the army. Tony thanked whatever deity might be listening that the super soldier had not lost any of his abilities after his more recent transformation.

Getting the bullet out proved a tricky business and Tony was sweating profusely by the time they managed to extract the copper-coloured pellet. He had no time to marvel over how much damage such a small object could do, as the heart monitor hooked up to Natasha started bleeping ominously. At the sound, Bruce came running into the lab and started completing compressions on the redhead's chest trying to restart her heart.

Tony could feel his own heart pounding painfully against his ribcage as he silently begged and pleaded with Natasha to fight for them. He needed her to get through this; the team needed her. After what seemed like an age Bruce finally stepped away from the table, a small, thankful smile on his face. It took Tony another minute to understand why he had stopped the compressions. The steady _beep beep _of the heart monitor filling his whole body with relief. His feelings were clearly mirrored in the faces of the two boys standing on either side of the small assassin.

When they had finished stitching up Natasha's newest bullet wound Tony finally left the lab, trusting Steve and Bruce to keep an eye on the still-unconscious girl. He joined Thor and Clint at the front of the craft and Clint's pinched face, he knew, had nothing to do with his difficult task of avoiding Shield agents and everything to do with the fate of his best friend.

"She's gonna be okay, bud," Tony reassured him, clasping him gently on the shoulder. He felt a slight reduction of the tension in Clint's small frame, but he knew the archer would not relax completely until he had assessed Natasha's condition for himself.

"How're we looking?" he asked the boy.

"We lost 'em about a half hour ago," was Clint's reply. "They seemed to pull back once we were a few miles out."

"Great; good work, Clint," Tony patted his shoulder a few times before he issued his next instruction. "Scoot – go see Nat."

"You sure you can handle this, Gramps?"

Tony swatted the archer away playfully before sinking into his vacated seat. He felt all the tension and adrenaline seep out of his body and it took all of his concentration to make sense of the dials and levers in front of his tired eyes. Thor, who had taken up position in the co-pilot seat, tried to provide advice and support but Tony found things went more smoothly when he ignored the god completely.

He gratefully realised that Natasha had installed a very handy GPS system into the quinjet's controls, and he was able to bring up directions back to the beach house after only three failed attempts. His mind and body felt heavy with the events of the past hour and he tried desperately to make sense of what had just happened as they flew home.

His theorising was interrupted suddenly as a loud ringing echoed through the quinjet. A monitor to his right was flashing up 'Incoming Call'. Tony glanced over to Thor who looked just as mystified as the billionaire felt. He reached over to accept the call and the screen filled with the face of one Nicholas J. Fury. Tony felt all of his hatred and revulsion at Shields' actions level themselves at the man looking out at him from the monitor.

"Oh, you have got to be shitting me."

"I shit you not, Mr Stark," came Fury's deadpan response. "You and I have a lot to discuss when you return." Tony could just make out the background of the videocall and realised, with mounting unease, that Fury was standing in his beach house. He did not know whether Fury was aware that Natasha was injured, or even if he would care at this point, but he could certainly tell that the former director was pissed.

Before Tony could alert him to Natasha's condition, Fury had terminated the call. After a few minutes, Thor retreated to the medi-lab to inform the others of what had just transpired, leaving Tony to stew in his worry and anger. He had no idea what would happen to them once they landed; could Fury have them arrested for trying to invade the Raft? Would they be put in the Raft themselves? Although he knew it was futile to speculate on things that he would never be able to guess the answer to, he found himself doing little else for the remainder of the journey.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry, again, for the delay with this update. This is a bit of a filler chapter but we will be getting back more to the 'kids' soon. **

**Thank you to anyone still reading this. Your comments are always appreciated. **

**Enjoy :)**

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Tony docked the quinjet and sat listening to the jet's engine shutting down as he contemplated what might be waiting for him in the beach house.

"Tony – are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Tony was brought back to the present to find Steve looking at him expectantly; how long he had been standing there, Tony could not be sure.

"I said, do you think someone should stay here with Nat, or should we try and move her into the house?"

Tony paused for a moment, wondering what the best course of action might be; he wanted to get Natasha comfortable in her own room but he also could not be certain how the rest of the day would go and, he figured, it might be better to leave her aboard the jet so they would have a quick getaway option.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," Tony finally announced as he made his way towards the exit ramp, "you guys stay here, have Clint sit up front in case he needs to get the jet going. If things start to go south, I'll send Pepper and Happy out to you."

"But –"

"You will do exactly what Pepper tells you to do; no arguments."

"But Tony –"

"Exactly. What. She. Tells. You. Are we clear, Captain?"

Steve sighed but eventually nodded his assent.

"The main thing, right now, has to be to keep Natasha safe from any further harm. I can't guarantee that if we take her inside. Do you understand?" Steve nodded again as Tony patted him on the shoulder. He knew that Steve's protectiveness of his friend would be the best way to get his acquiescence.

Tony left Steve to tell the others of the plan as he made his way into the beach house. When he entered the large living area, he was greeted by Pepper immediately throwing her arms around him. Tony clasped her to him for a brief moment before extracting himself and making his way over to the two men levering themselves up from the sofa.

"Stark."

"Nick." Tony had to bite down hard on the urge to cuss the guy out; he still could not be sure whether Fury was aware of the incident that had brought them back here or not.

"I'll get straight to the point," Fury continued as he resumed his seat, his one good eye watching Tony shrewdly. "I have given much thought to what you said to me at our last meeting, Mr Stark, and I came to the conclusion that you may have had a point."

"So, you're saying I was right, and you were wrong?"

"Don't push it, Stark…As I was saying, I thought about it and decided that, on this occasion, our usual approach might not be the right move. The plan, _as I'm sure you are already aware, _was to transport the enhanced individuals to a secure underwater facility –"

"Just call it a prison. We all know it's a prison."

"-however, Agent Coulson and I had some reservations about that. The Raft is somewhat under government jurisdiction these days, and if these people fall into the wrong hands it could be disastrous for all of us. So, we have made other arrangements."

"Don't go shy on me now, Nick," Tony quipped, when Fury had lapsed into silence.

"The twins have been taken to an abandoned bunker facility in New Mexico; it's a very old Shield hideout that was basically scrubbed off the map back in the 70's. Agent Coulson has some of his people securing the base for us. I just wanted to make you aware, before you attempt any more rescue missions…"

"That's all incredibly interesting and whatnot but, can we jump back a little bit to something that's kind of been bothering me?"

Coulson and Fury exchanged exasperated looks before Fury gestured for Tony to say his piece.

"You haven't explained to us how Shield knew we would be heading to the Raft. Did you inform them to keep watch?"

If either agent were surprised by the accusatory question, they did not show it; _man, I would hate to play poker against these two. _

"Mr Stark, I believe you are referring to the deployment of two fighter jets at 12:37 this afternoon. I can assure you that I had no involvement in that altercation – as far as I am aware, your aircraft was spotted by a scouter plane out on a routine run and the jets were deployed as a warning. It's protocol."

"Oh, of course, of course," Tony started to pace slightly, feeling his heartbeat beating a faster rhythm as his anger started to rise once more. "And, tell me – just out of interest – is it protocol these days to shoot a child?"

"Excuse me?" Tony was mildly pleased to see a look of unease creep over Phil Coulson's face, but the former director just looked pissed off.

"You heard me. We got their warning, all right, I had to fish it out of Natasha's stomach. So, excuse me if I don't offer my congratulations to your agents on their ability to follow direct orders."

A tense silence hung uncomfortably in the air until Pepper left the room, slamming the door on her way out. Tony knew she would not have been able to stay any longer without checking on Natasha for herself. Coulson and Fury were both now looking uneasy, but Tony wanted to make sure that they had not misunderstood what he had said.

"They shot Nat, Nick. We almost lost her. Does that mean anything to you? Or is she just another commodity that you can replace when it's broken?"

Fury moved so quickly that Tony did not have chance to react. The man stopped barely an inch from the billionaire, their noses practically touching.

"You've got no right, Stark. You know Romanoff is like family to me."

Tony snorted at Fury's statement, unable to reconcile the man's words with his actions over the past couple of years.

"Man, she really lucked out with that one, didn't she? Tell me, Nick, is it common for your family to be lied to, manipulated, and ignored? Or is that treatment only reserved for the really special ones?"

Tony knew, deep down, that his anger was not all solely on Natasha's behalf; in the few years he had known Nick Fury he had had experienced all of those things from the ex-director, he was pretty sure they all had. Still, even after everything that had happened, and even after the fall of Shield, Fury still expected them all to dance to his tune, and to come running as soon as he snapped his fingers. Well, Tony was never someone to march to the beat of anyone else's drum, and he was damned if he was going to let these people use his friends any longer. He knew it would be hard for Natasha, and possibly Clint, to cut ties with the people they viewed as their saviours and their family, but he was going to do everything in his power to make them see that this did not need to be their lives going forward. They deserved better.

Tony could see understanding dawning in Fury's eye as he scrutinised the man before him. The older man finally stepped back, sighing, and shaking his head. Tony could see a mixture of disappointment and begrudging respect in his face. Fury finally resumed his place on the sofa and gestured for Tony to also take a seat. Tony was tempted to remain standing, purely out of principle, but he decided it just was not worth the effort. Tony was not expecting Fury to open up to him in any way, so he was surprised with the man's ensuing monologue.

"Mr Stark, I can see why our way of life might be difficult for someone of your background to understand. Your past life, although maybe not always easy in some respects, was a walk in the park compared to some of our other recruits. I'm not going to go into details, I'm sure they can tell you if they want you to know, but Romanoff and Barton are from a completely different walk of life from you, from me, from pretty much anyone else they will ever come into contact with.

"Their histories made them, for a long while, difficult to trust and, in turn, it made them unable to trust others. It took a long time with both of them, Natasha especially, to get them onside and to align them with our goals and methods within Shield.

"I know you will find this hard to believe, Mr Stark, but over those years of training them, getting to know them, and sharing experiences with them that you would never be able to wrap your head around, they did become my family. Not just mine, but Agent Coulson's too. I have more pride and affection for those two than I imagine I would if I had children of my own.

"Now, whilst our interactions may not fit in with your idea of 'family', Mr Stark, I can assure you that I would willingly lay down my life for those two – hell, I would lay down my life for any of you in a heartbeat. Now, you can choose to believe me, or you can continue imagining that I am your enemy, but when the time comes, Tony, I promise you that you will see that I am a man of my word. Yes, I am loyal to Shield but my family does now, and always has, come first. If I believe Shield to be a threat to that family then I will be the first in line to take them down; I've done it before, in case you have forgotten, and I will do it again.

"So, if it's okay with you, I would like to go and check on Natasha for myself."

Tony was slightly stunned, and a little cowed, by Fury's admission so he could only nod dumbly at the man to go ahead. Coulson stood to follow Fury from the room, but he paused by Tony's chair before he left.

"For the record, Tony, I admire what you're fighting for. In an ideal world, those kids might get to be just that – kids. But in this world, they're warriors – whether they were born to that or raised into it, that's what they've all become. All we can do is help them to win as many battles as we can."

Coulson started to walk away again until Tony called him back.

"Why did you let them believe you were dead? They're two of the best liars in the business; you know they could have kept your secret."

Coulson sighed dejectedly and Tony could see shame in the hunched set of his shoulders.

"There were so many times I wanted to reach out to them. At first, I was just following orders to keep off their radar, but then it just became too difficult to tell them. I figured they would have moved on, without me, and I…well, I guess I didn't want to have to witness that. On the flip side, I also didn't want to deal with their potential grief or any guilt they wanted to, justifiably, lay at my feet. It was selfish of me, I know that now, but at the time I thought it was better for all of us if they remained ignorant of the truth."

Tony let him go after that, lost in his own thoughts until Pepper returned carrying Natasha like a baby in her arms, the boys following behind her. Tony did not enquire as to where Nick and Phil had gone – he figured they were off to check on the enhanced twins they had squirrelled away somewhere.

"I was thinking we should just order in some pizza for tea," Pepper suggested. Tony nodded wordlessly as he stood and took Natasha out of her arms. The girl was light as a feather and fast asleep. As Tony carried her upstairs to her room he thought back to what Phil had said about them getting to just be kids in an ideal world and, not for the first time, he wondered if it would really be so bad if the Avengers remained in their childlike forms. Shield would have to find some other recruits for world-saving escapades - _it certainly seems like Phil has a few likely candidates on his new team – _and these guys could have a well-earned break from the constant chaos and uncertainty that was their daily lives.

Tony gently tucked Natasha into her bed, brushing her red curls off her forehead. She looked like a little porcelain doll lying there; so tiny and innocent. Anyone looking at her would not be able to imagine the scars littering her tiny body, or the horrors that she had witnessed and been a part of. Natasha shifted under the covers, a tiny frown adorning her forehead. She muttered something in Russian, her tone frightened and confused. Tony sat on the edge of her bed, his hand resting on her back rubbing soothing circles over the t-shirt someone, probably Pepper, had changed her into.

Tony was not sure what the future held for any of them, he was not even sure how many more curveballs were going to be thrown their way, but he was damned sure that he was going to spend every last breath in his body fighting to protect these kids, one way or the other.


	15. Chapter 15

**So, this chapter is a bit of a break from any drama :) Apologies for the delay in posting (I'm rubbish, I know)**

**Thank you to anyone still reading this, it means a lot. Reviews are always welcome.**

**Enjoy :)**

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It had been three days since their failed mission to find the enhanced twins, three days of trying to wrap his head around Fury's emotional confession, _well, emotional for Nick, anyway, _and three days of everyone fussing and fretting over Natasha's tiny, prone form as she lay convalescing in bed. The mini spy had been less than impressed about being on constant bedrest; her adult self was known for ignoring doctor's orders at every turn and would be back in the field the same day as a minor surgery if she thought she was needed. Baby Natasha, however, was finding that her body was not as cooperative as she would like and on the many, _many, _occasions she had tried to sneak down to join the rest of the family she had easily been spotted and carried back to bed, her protests falling on deaf ears.

By the fourth day she had been deemed fit to join the group for a late breakfast and Tony watched with a pang in his chest as she was escorted carefully down the stairs by Clint; the boy's hands hovering around her ready to catch her if she fell, but far enough away that she could not accuse him of babying her. Tony had never seen Clint so serious about anything as he had about Natasha's care the past few days. He had even taken to sleeping at the foot of her bed in case she needed him during the night. Tony had expressed to Pepper, not for the first time, his questions about the nature of their relationship. Pepper had playfully scolded him for being so nosy, but there had been an infuriating smirk on her face as though she knew something he did not. Tony had tried to shrug it off, but he hated when people knew things he was in the dark about, _something my darling partner most definitely knows, and very much enjoys exploiting. _

"And how is our little warrior this fine day?" Tony asked as Natasha eased herself into a chair, he almost missed the slight spasm of pain that crossed her face before her features settled back into their usual cool composure.

"I'd be better if people stopped treating me like a baby," she pouted, although her annoyance did not quite meet her eyes. Tony knew she would never admit it out loud, but he thought she had enjoyed all the fussing a little bit. She certainly did not protest as Pepper poured her drink for her, or when Steve prepared her a breakfast plate, including cutting up her pancakes into the little squares she liked. Tony most definitely did not miss the tiny smile that graced her lips as the super soldier set the plate in front of her and poured over a generous helping of maple syrup. He tried to catch Pepper's eye, wanting to silently ask all the questions he had about the other relationship in Natasha's life, but Pepper was too busy engaged in a heated debate with Thor about the proper etiquette of pancake eating. The blonde had a stack of six, smothered in Nutella and syrup, that he was currently trying to eat like a burger. Whilst the rest of the group looked on in a mixture of horror and disgust, Tony was left amused, and slightly worried, at the hero-worship currently shining out of Clint's eyes.

"So, now Tasha has finally stopped being so lazy and dragged herself out of her pit," Clint started round a mouthful of pancake, earning himself a kick to the shin from the redhead, "what's on the agenda today? Battling aliens? Kidnapping enhanced siblings? Fighting our supposed allies?"

Tony rolled his eyes at the archer, whilst internally hoping that none of those things were going to come up again for a little while. He certainly had no desire to throw the kids back into any sort of battle for a while – he only hoped the universe would be kind enough to leave them be for now. He was content to let Fury deal with the freaky duo who had caused them more than one sleepless night, and he was most assuredly going to avoid any run-ins with SHIELD employees for the foreseeable future. That just left Thor's brother, and he was sincerely hoping the Asgardians would have locked him up somewhere secure by now, and that they would not be stupid enough to let him out a second time; he was not going to hold his breath about that one though.

"Actually, Short Stack, I was thinking about hiring a boat and getting away for the day. There's a little cove not far away that should be relatively empty today. We could take a picnic out there?"

He looked enquiringly at Pepper; he had not run the idea past her, it having only just popped into his head, but he was relieved to see her smiling back at him. The kids certainly seemed to approve, and all wolfed down the remainder of their breakfasts so they could go and get ready. Happy set off shortly after the plates were cleared to make the arrangements for the boat hire whilst Pepper and Tony packed a picnic basket with bread rolls, ham, cheese, cooked chicken, fruit, and drinks. They worked together in comfortable silence until Tony's mind drifted back to the little redhead who had managed to burrow deep into his heart without him realising.

"Sooo," he started, dragging the word out in a way he knew would immediately get Pepper's full attention, "Red and Spangles? Or Red and Legolas?" He tried for a look of innocent wonder, but Pepper was certainly not buying it.

"Why don't you ask Natasha that question?" she smirked at the look of horror that crossed his face.

"Do you think I have a death wish?! Actually, don't answer that."

Pepper laughed and rolled her eyes at his antics as he sidled up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and resting his head on her shoulder. It was a slight source of contention with him that he did not have to stoop to do this, as she was taller than him, but it also meant she was naturally the big spoon in bed. If anyone ever asked he would deny it until he was blue in the face, but he secretly loved being the little spoon.

"Seriously though," he continued, when she was clearly not going to volunteer any information, "is there something? Do you know something? Should I buy a hat?"

Pepper laughed out loud at him, the sound going straight to his heart and making him smile over her shoulder as she swatted playfully at his hands.

"Tony, why are you so concerned with this?" Tony shrugged against her back.

"I just like to know things," he admitted, "and usually I can fathom things out without being told, but that's never the case with Nat. I just want to know" he almost whined the last part, causing Pepper to laugh again.

Pepper turned in his arms, leaning back against the worktop and putting a small amount of space between them, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth, although not unkindly.

"Nat will tell you if she wants you to know."

"So, you do know something?" he narrowed his eyes at her, trying to decipher every twitch of her mouth which was fighting hard to not smile.

Pepper drew her hand across her lips like a zip before extracting herself from his hold and making her way towards the stairs to get herself ready. Tony was left pouting behind her. He was tempted to continue his mithering, hoping to wear her down eventually, but he knew it was no use; besides, she was right – if Natasha did not want to tell him something, it was worth more than his life to try and come by the information using other methods. He sighed in resignation before going to join his girlfriend in getting ready.

Soon enough the rag-tag group were galloping down the beach towards the sea; Tony had one of his bots dragging a dinghy down the shore so they could row out to where Happy was waiting for them on a large speedboat. Tony had sailed in – _had owned _– much bigger yachts in his time, but this seemed sufficient for their little family. Nat hung back with Pepper and Tony as the boys raced ahead. Tony glanced down at the tiny redhead and smiled fondly at the sight of her little hands clasped in both of theirs. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that adult Natasha would rather gouge her own eyes out than allow this type of contact with him, so he decided to swallow the jokes and teasing remarks on his tongue and just enjoy the moment instead.

Once the boys reached the waterfront, they commenced shouting for the trio to hurry up, as though afraid Happy was going to sail off without them. Tony eventually took pity on them and scooped Nat up into his arms, his heart swelling with affection as her soft weight settled against his chest and her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. He could see Pepper smiling serenely out of the corner of his eye as they increased their pace and joined the eager boys at the dinghy.

It took two trips to get everyone across safely and they were delighted to find that Happy had already broken out cans of Pepsi and Fanta for them to enjoy as they lounged about the large deck. They were less impressed with Pepper's militaristic sunscreen drill.

"But Mooooooom," Clint whined, his pout doing little to sway the determined exec from her mission, "we already put some on before we left!" he looked around at his comrades, hoping for backup, but none of them seemed inclined to risk Pepper's wrath by refusing her commands.

"Well, if you don't want to put any on, you're more than welcome to wait below deck for the rest of the trip." Clint tried to stare her down, but even in adult form he had never quite mastered the type of death glare that Natasha could muster to get people to bend to her will. His childish attempt produced nothing but sniggers from the others, until he eventually caved himself and stuck his arm out for Pepper to continue lathering him in factor 50.

Tony had been watching Pepper closely whilst he pretended to listen to Happy's rundown of their route; her face had been firm and unyielding as Clint had danced away from her clutches, although her blue eyes had been sparkling with mirth the whole time. When the boy had called her Mom, her whole countenance had shifted slightly. Tony was not sure the others would have noticed; her face had certainly remained stern enough – but he had seen how her eyes had softened and he had noticed how she had pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth for the smallest of moments. In that tiniest corner of time Tony had felt as though he had fallen in love all over again.

After Happy had insisted on carrying out a safety demonstration, which only Pepper and an enthralled Thor paid the slightest bit of attention to ("My good man, do the floatation vests come in any other colours?"), they were finally on their way. They marvelled at the glistening water around them, shrieking and pointing at any fish they happened to see swimming beneath them, and trying to scare one another with the idea of what else might be lurking in the dark depths.

Upon approaching the cove, Happy dropped anchor and they made another couple of trips back and forth in the dinghy before everyone was happily relaxing on the sandy shore. Tony took a minute to breathe in the fresh, salty sea air and marvel at the crystal-clear waters lapping at the quiet little beach they had arrived at. Behind them, the beach gave way to low-standing cliffs topped with luscious green foliage. There was not another soul in sight, for which Tony was extremely grateful; he just wanted to spend a day enjoying having his family together without worrying about extra-terrestrials or strangely gifted human adversaries.

"Yo, Stark! Think fast!" Tony had barely turned at the sound of his name when a football smacked him in the side of his head, stinging the skin across the left side of his face and whipping his head back in the other direction. He turned back to see Steve standing, frozen, like a deer caught in headlights, mouthing a silent apology as the others looked on in various stages of glee and horror. Tony took a steady step towards the boy, his face a stern mask of disapproval although inside he was secretly delighted as the Captain took a shaky step backwards, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Tony, that was a complete accident'" the young boy said, placatingly, as he took another retreating step. "It's not my fault your reflexes peaked back in the stone age," he continued, a small, impish smirk starting to creep over his features, turning him immediately from scared kid to the devious little shit Tony was quickly realising he was.

Tony stopped in his tracks, his shocked face turning between Steve and their captive audience who were all trying hard to stifle their giggles. He pointed at the young super soldier as he addressed the rest of the kids.

"This? From the living fossil?! The audacity!" Without any warning he took off after Steve, determined to tackle the cheeky little so-and-so until he was face-planting the warm sand. _Maybe I'll dunk him too, for good measure._

Unfortunately for Tony, Steve had been uncomfortably correct about his reflexes, and the smirking little twerp danced easily out of his grasp every time. Determined not to lose any more of his dignity in front of the kids – the only one of whom that was cheering for him, he noticed, was Bruce – he pushed through the stitch under his ribs and the niggling pain in his hip until Pepper mercifully called for a truce so they could eat. Tony had never been so grateful to the woman in his life and he flopped unceremoniously onto the red and white picnic blanket next to her, trying desperately to hear snatches of conversation over his own obnoxiously loud breathing.

"You know, even on a normal day you're not as young and fit as these guys," Pepper whispered as she rubbed soothing circles across the back of his sweat-dampened t-shirt. "I wish you wouldn't always push yourself to compete with them; you'll give yourself a heart attack one of these days".

Tony huffed and rolled his eyes at her worrying, mainly because speech was still evading him after his impromptu running session – _much harder to do on soft sand, FYI._

The truth was that Tony liked to be the best and, with his gadgets and inventions, he could usually ensure he was at the top of his game competing with gods and super soldiers in the field. Out of the suit his brain was his best weapon – still fast and beyond smart. His body, on the other hand, was starting to show its years; although he kept in shape, he had to admit that he struggled to keep up with the others - the only one on his level was Bruce. His science buddy, however, had little desire to compete physically with their comrades; in fact, Tony could not remember the last time he saw the guy hit the gym – the scientist seemed comfortable with his softer, less-honed physique. Tony admired that self-acceptance (especially as it seemed about the only thing his bespectacled friend actually seemed at peace with about himself) but Tony had never had that mentality. His father had drilled into him the importance of always striving for more, to _be_ more, and that was not something the genius found easy to cast aside.

Once his breathing had reached a less embarrassing volume, Tony finally started to relax and enjoy the picnic spread out before him. A strong, solid hand slapped him on the back as he took a large bite of his sandwich, causing him to choke around the mouthful of food. The same hand pounded relentlessly against his back, seemingly trying to help dislodge the offending morsel, until he managed to successfully manoeuvre himself away from his assailant.

"Odin's beard!" Thor was staring at him with a look of shock and concern on his strangely chiselled child-face, "I did not mean to cause you distress, Man of Iron. I simply wished to express my thanks for all you have done for us."

Tony waved his thanks away good-naturedly.

"Nothing to it, Bjorn Ironside, just a little grub rustled up."

"No, not that, my good man." Tony still sometimes struggled to grasp adult Thor's Shakespearean way of speaking but hearing such phrasings from this young demi-god, and in such a deep, booming voice, was beyond bizarre for him. "What I meant to say is that the tenacity and care you have shown to us in these most troubling of times has been most assuredly noted by myself and my comrades. You, and the most estimable of ladies, Lady Pepper," Tony did not miss the faint flush of his partner's cheeks as Thor bowed low to the lady in question, "have gone above and beyond for us all and I hope our gratitude to you both is not lacking. Were we on Asgard, I would ensure the feast to end all feasts to be held in your names. There would be tourneys and dancing and enough food to last a lifetime. Alas, we are on Midgard, and I can offer you nothing."

On that anticlimactic note, Thor bowed low to the pair before dashing off to join Clint splashing in the shallows. Tony turned, dumbstruck, to his partner with his eyebrows almost kissing his hairline to find the strawberry blonde looking just as perplexed at the abrupt end to Thor's adulation.

Before either could begin to voice their thoughts on the matter, a softer, raspier voice piped up right behind the pair, causing a jolt of shock in both of them.

"It's true we can't really express our thanks properly right now," the pair turned in unison to find Natasha crouched behind them on the picnic blanket, one tiny hand pressing lightly against the newest scar hidden beneath her habitual beach shirt, "but we all really appreciate how you've looked after us. Even if some of us don't always show it very well." The mini spy grinned coyly at her last statement, and the two adults smirked back at the youngster, all three picturing her recent, vocal, disdain over her forced bedrest.

Natasha blinked big, green eyes at the pair and Tony was surprised to recognise a look of uncertainty flashing momentarily across her gaze before the redhead darted forward and flung her arms around their necks. The surprising strength of her grip was less shocking than the brief kisses she pressed to each of their cheeks before she gingerly backed away and fled. Although her getaway was greatly impeded by her still-healing body, Tony was pleased to see that her movements were a little easier than they had been even just a couple of hours earlier.

"Tony," Pepper's soft voice pulled him from his thoughts and he turned his attention from the little girl back to his partner, "is it completely selfish of me that I almost don't want them to turn back?"

"You mean you enjoy wrangling with five unruly, ridiculously strong and precocious children every day? And you don't miss the peaceful nights we could spend just drinking wine and talking about adult things, instead of arguing over teeth-brushing and the amount of sugar that is appropriate to consume before bed?"

Pepper merely gave him a knowing smile and all Tony could do was sigh and nod, watching as Thor and Clint tried desperately to dunk Happy under the water whilst Natasha cheered them on from atop Steve's shoulders, and Bruce cast uncertain glances back to the pair still sitting halfway up the beach.

"Honestly, Pep? Same."


End file.
